Part Two

Dark World

 

Dark Evolutions

 

In the beginning, there was darkness…then light kissed the earth. A cascade of illumination warmed the surface, encouraging the growth of plants, animals—and humans.

Over the course of millenniums, the humans evolved, mastering the arts of fire and technology. They populated the planet in epic proportions—but they weren’t alone.

While modern humans believed the earth to be a solid chunk of rock, portions of the mantle had fallen away eons ago, leaving a cavern the size of a large continent. Life not only grew within the subversive realm—it flourished. Alongside the evolution of the humans on the surface, a powerful underground race spawned from the seeds of magic and elemental gods—demons. The source of their immortal power, a Crystal Pyramid, magically reflected light from the sun above.

Led by an all powerful demon, Lucifer, the Legion of demons ruled Dark World for thousands of years.

Amidst their reign, a cataclysmic earthquake shook the earth to its core, opening an abyss and swallowing a small portion of the surface. Thousands of humans and mystical creatures were stolen from the world with a sky and brought down to dwell in the underground kingdom. Weak and frail, the humans naturally became the demons’ slaves. Forced to mine precious bloodstone, they were all but bound to an eternity of hell.

To free themselves, they did the unthinkable—they sold their souls to a demon—Malus, Queen of Dark World.

Empowered and desiring to overthrow her husband, Malus sent scouts to the surface to recruit more souls. The scouts learned that the humans were willing to sacrifice their youth in exchange for supernatural powers.

It was then that a ritual steeped in the dark arts was born.

By the time King Lucifer discovered the plot to overthrow him, it was too late. Malus, his wife, had become untouchably powerful and the underworld was overrun with a dominant new race: shades.

Determined to right the wrong, the King removed six pages from the Devil’s Bible and hid them. Using the last of his powers, he sealed the abyss to prevent further communication with the humans. However, dividing the power of the Bible came with a terrible consequence—the Crystal Pyramid ceased to light Dark World, leaving the demons weakened—and mortal.

Today, the demons have become the slaves—their extinction imminent.

 

Black Chrysalis

 

Kane’s seven foot frame stood poised atop an obsidian boulder. He held his large body motionless, thigh muscles flexing beneath his black skin. Horns the shade of midnight adorned either side of his head, drawing to a whorl at his temples whilst dark blue dreadlocks fell between his folded wings, stretching the length of his back.

With his ebony hooves balanced precariously at the edge of the rock, the demon’s arm muscles twitched in anticipation. His glowing sapphire eyes focused, angular ears twitching with his prey’s slightest movements.

His black skin reflected the crimson hue emanating from the outlying magma rivers, other than the bioluminescent creatures around him, his only source of light.

To his right, a distant range of volcanoes roared and blustered, spewing angry streams of hot lava from their gaping mouths. Ahead, the arid sands of the Crimson Desert lie flat and unyielding. A sprinkling of ash snowed over the landscape in attempts to blanket the dry, cracked terrain, but was blown away by consistently zealous gusts of air.

The searing wind blew across his arms, raising the tiny hairs. Though heat was always welcome upon demon skin, he wondered how a cool ocean breeze might feel against his face.

A streak of envy tainted his concentration and his dark brow furled.

Humans, he brooded.

He ground his sharp teeth together, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. Wielding a smooth, silver dagger with bended arm, the demon awaited the perfect moment to strike. Before him, scoring a wavy pattern in the red sands, a lava snake inadvertently glided towards his death. With scales the color of fresh magma, the snake tasted the environment with a thin, forked tongue. Its lithe body no longer than two feet, it sashayed ever closer to the waiting demon.

After taking a final aim and snapping his arm straight, Kane speared the snake in the back of the head. Climbing down from the boulder, he bent over and retrieved both his knife and his meal. He then sat on the slab of obsidian and worked quickly to strip the creature of its casing. He cradled the reptile within his large palm as he made an incision, piercing the coral skin with a razor-sharp talon. With his pointer finger, he carefully sliced the creature open, cautious not to spill the organs and entrails.

When he tossed the scaly hide aside, he heard the inevitable scuffle of meegles emerging from their burrows beneath the rocks. The hairless rodents sniffed the air guardedly, skittering towards the discarded flesh. Their rounded eyes, disproportionately large for their tiny bodies, blazed yellow against the pitch background. Marked with two sapphire bioluminescent stripes running down their backs, they quivered as they surrounded the remains. After a great deal of snarling and gnashing of teeth amongst them, one of the tiny beasts snatched the carcass and dragged it into his den. A rare feast, no doubt.

Pleased he could feed another, Kane focused on his own meal. Placing an ebony hand over the meat, he whispered a magical incantation, “Lucem ferre.”

Within seconds, a pulsation of orange ignited in the center of his palm. He controlled the flame, searing the tender flesh to medium-rare. His mouth salivated with the scent of his impending dinner. Meager as it was, it would be his first meal in nearly two days.

For almost a week, he’d been on the hunt for a rogue shade spotted near the hidden city. Two days ago, he discovered the body of a young female demon, her soul missing. The calling card of a shade. Kane’s indigo eyes flared with the thought of his kind being murdered. A population once flourishing with demons now dwindled within a dying world.

Deep bitterness shrouded his heart.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

His gaze wandered over the darkened wasteland, eyes shining with internal illumination. Enhanced with infrared receptors, his sight pierced the veil of darkness to expose a broken landscape. A realm once rich with power and black magic now lay in ruin, war-torn and desolate. Overtaken by shades, the world he’d been born into no longer existed.

He flicked his long, thick tail in frustration, taking a bite of his humble feast. The warm, tender flesh slid over his tongue and he felt an iota of his strength return. As he scanned the distant mountain range, their reddish hue painting a panoramic scene, he remembered a time when the Legion of demons ruled. Food was plentiful. Demons lived free amongst a crystalline wilderness.

And flying.

He flexed his large bat-like wings as much as the shackles would allow, wincing as the barbs cut into his flesh. Hidden beneath his sheathed sword, two circlets of unbreakable steel, forged within the earth’s core, were bound where his wings met his back. Adorned with needle-sharp spikes, the cuffs pierced his flesh with any endeavor at flight. Many failed attempts to remove them merely proved what he already knew: only the Devil could remove the enchantment put upon them. The shackles were placed on the demons after the Apocalypse. The ones that survived, anyways.

The Devil. His eyes narrowed to slits. Malus.

He wondered if his world could ever be the same. Would it ever be the way it was before the Queen’s vicious takeover?

He finished the last bit of the snake and wiped his hands on his leather loincloth. It was then that an ominous song rang out from above. As he looked up, he observed a wraith phoenix soaring overhead. Cloaked in ebon mist, the large bird drifted upon the sweltering breeze. Careful to navigate around the massive stalactites dangling like fangs in an open mouth, it dove and paraded hundreds of feet above Kane’s head.

He looked away from the bird. It reminded him of two painful aspects of his existence: One, he could no longer fly, and two, few creatures in Dark World still possessed their souls. Only a handful of beings existed with their essence intact. The rest were victims of the shades’ lustful greed for power and soul satiation. Once a shade devoured the spirit of another, the victim was destined to wander the world as nothing more than a phantom. The ghostly phoenix was but the shell of its former self, an apparition.

His gaze panned the length of the rocky skyline. Through the haze of ash and darkness, the demon dreamed of a place he’d never been: the Surface. Before the great chasm was sealed, his ancestors could travel to the Surface at leisure, but now, there was simply no access.

No escape.

Just as he’d done a thousand times before, the demon wondered what the sky looked like. A bitterness wound tight around his heart as he again reflected on the humans.

Their freedom, their open sky, and especially their stars…do they realize what treasures they possess?

An entire world existed beneath their feet—and they had no idea. A land of magic, power and darkness all dwelt within the heart of a hollow earth.

Kane’s sight blurred in the midst of his embittered loathing.

Now we are the slaves.

He glanced again at the soulless phoenix weaving below the sky of solid rock and around an enormous column of stone that stretched from ground to ceiling. Scattered throughout Dark World, the gargantuan pillars seemed to bear the load of the Surface upon their backs. Like selfless giants balancing the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Kane’s eyes shifted from the bird and frowned when he recognized something emerging from between the icicles of stone.

Is that, he wondered, narrowing his gaze, a black cocoon?

That could only mean one thing: a shade was being born.

Where are the others? His eyes darted over the width of the forever night sky. Shades are always born in threes!

Searching for the other two cocoons, he fought back a gasp when they were nowhere to be found.

“If it’s a female and she’s born alone, that means she’s the…good gods!” he uttered with disbelief.

Quickly gathering his pack, he jumped from the rock and began sprinting across the fractured landscape. Ferocity pulsed through his blood. His hooves pounded upon the barren terrain in rhythm with his angry heart.

I must get to it before it hatches!!

He also needed to kill it before it was retrieved by the guards. Dutifully patrolling the borders, the Queen’s guards were to collect any newborn shades—and destroy any free-roaming demons.

He locked his sights on the writhing black pod forming between the rocky stalactites and pushed himself to run harder. With his wings disabled by the shackles, they flailed uselessly behind him.

I could get there so much faster if I could fly!

He wasn’t convinced his wings would even work considering how long he’d been imprisoned within the shackles. An unwelcome pain seared in his chest. He wished he couldn’t remember how it felt to fly. It would be so much easier to endure the inability if he didn’t remember soaring through the atmosphere.

He grunted, pushing his large body to run faster. Kane glanced around to ensure no guards were manning the area. If he were caught, if Malus knew he was still alive, the entire realm would suffer for it, even worse than they already were.

The cocoon was nearly ripe, ready to birth its evil offspring. A female figure writhed within, the silken black shell thin enough to be translucent. Kane reached back and slid his sword from its sheath. The scarlet light from remote tributaries of molten rock reflected off the black diamond blade, making it look angry and ready to fight.

As he arrived at the rocks just beneath the pod, he scanned the terrain. Thankfully, the cocoon was forming at a low point on the sky’s roof. He could scale the large rocks just beneath it and slay her as she dropped. If she made it to the surface, he might not be able to kill her before she killed him.

She’s going to be hungry…very hungry.

He shuddered, shrugging off the notion of being the shade’s first meal. Kane squinted, estimating how high the cocoon was.

A hundred feet or so.

Most often, shade cocoons nestled into nooks within the rock canopy, several hundreds of feet above ground, and could barely be seen with the naked eye.

I must be crazy attempting this alone.

A knot twisted in his stomach as he realized the gravity of the situation. A male shade against a demon was a pretty even fight. A female shade was different. Granted, shades usually didn’t develop their powers until they were a few weeks old, but a female was superior, both physically and magically.

This is not a good idea.

Determined, he raced to the top of the rocks and watched with disgusted fascination as the pod cracked open, discharging glossy, white pus. Slowly unfolding its onyx petals, the cocoon bloomed like a flowering lotus, preparing to unveil its dark butterfly. Now fully open, it released its hold on the rocks and began to fall. The black star spun gently as though dancing with the breeze, cradling its deadly cargo upon it.

Kane bared his fangs, declaring war on the newborn shade. So many demons had been slaughtered or forced into slavery. He was going to make the shades pay—and he was going to start with this one.

 

Untamed

 

A hot, dry wind licked her bare skin. Stray tendrils of her long hair tickled her face and shoulders. Free from the earthy tomb, she lay in the open air, sensing herself falling like a feather rocking on a breeze.

She tensed the muscles in her arms and legs, smiling as she realized the paralysis had worn off. Though she was certain she could open her eyes now, she was hesitant. The atmosphere was hot—very hot.

Have I gone to Hell?

Not knowing how or why, she recalled being physically harmed, but upon bringing her hand to her chest and slowly caressing the spot where she’d been stabbed, she discovered that the hole was gone. The emblem carved into her forehead had also vanished. She had been healed somehow.

Was it just a dream? Is this all a dream?

She struggled to retain the memories of her former self. She even fought to remember her name. Everything was different. She was different. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

Her body hummed with energy, a powerful source of something she couldn’t identify—but enjoyed. It was the hunger that frightened her, an aching need that started at her lips and snaked its way to the pit of her stomach. She’d tried to name it, this excruciating desire.

Is it…blood?

The vision of a stereotypical vampire flashed through her mind, a pale, bloodthirsty fiend with red eyes, fangs, and a black cape. She shook off the image knowing it wasn’t blood she lusted for—it was something far more precious.

 

Balanced atop a rocky mound, Kane eyed the descending pod with revulsion. He gripped his sword with both hands, muscles rippling beneath his ebony skin, and waited.

Just a little closer…

Indigo eyes blazing, he prepared to bring the wrath. He raised his weapon. The pod only inches from the ground.

“Kane!” a voice shouted from behind him.

He turned to see who had summoned him. As he recognized Legion’s tracker, Deme, his emotion shifted from rage—to one of concern. Chest heaving and sweat glistening as it ran over her ruby skin, her yellow eyes were fierce with urgency.

He gave a longing look to the falling pod and quickly made the decision to tend to Deme first. She had to have tracked him for many days and would only do so if it were imperative.

“What is it?” he asked, keeping his Baritone voice hushed as he clamored down the stony slope.

She held back the sides of her long, black cloak and knelt, bowing her head. “We had a breach of security, sir. A shade.”

Kane fell back onto a rock and sat heavily. A breach? There hadn’t been an intruder within the palace since Legion occupied it. How could a shade have even entered, let alone discovered its secret location?

The newborn shade momentarily forgotten, he held his head in his hands and quietly asked, “The scroll?”

Deme stiffened. “It’s gone—the banshees have reported theirs stolen as well.”

A shadow of hopelessness cast over him.

“Malus must have discovered that only shades can touch the pages of the Devil’s Bible,” he surmised, cringing at his father’s lack of foresight. “Did anyone see this shade?”

“No, sir.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

She shook her head.

He must be very good, Kane thought, to break through our enchantments and sneak by security.

His heart suddenly weighed a ton. Kane wished his father was still alive, he’d know what to do. He tried to think like his father. He tried to think like the King.

“If Malus acquires all six scrolls, she will gain access to the Surface and turn all the humans to shades,” he uttered.

Not that he cared much for the demise of the human race, but having over seven billion shades roaming the world left his meager city of five thousand demons at an even lesser advantage than they already were.

She nodded, pushing her long, black hair off her shoulders as she stood. “Yes, the demons will be extinct—unless you believe in miracles.”

An epiphany graced his thoughts, his gaze drifting to the descending dark angel. “I just might.”

 

She smelled it before her back even touched the ground. A delicious overwhelming scent that lit a fire within. Though the atmosphere was saturated with the stench of charcoal and ash, her mouth watered and body ached for a taste of this unknown desire.

Her eyes flew open to reveal a completely new world.

Where the hell is the sky?

Above her, a rocky roof extended as far as the eye could see. As though snarling at her, the entirety of the sky was a ceiling of pointed rocks. It reminded her of an enormous cave with no walls. She shifted her eyes from left to right, taking note of the hazy red atmosphere and cringed as she realized she may have indeed descended into the realm described by religion. Strangely, she wasn’t frightened. She expected to be afraid. This was what everyone in the world feared? Wasn’t this the place no one wanted to go?

In the distance, constant explosions could be heard from volcanic eruptions spewing scalding lava and pouring it down the mountainside like a flaming waterfall—yet it was strangely soothing.

How did I get here?

The memories of her past life were fading like stars trapped in a sunrise. Her recollection still existed, only now it lived in twilight reality stuck between imagination and consciousness.

Once more, the succulent fragrance wafted under her nose. An aroma with such allure, she couldn’t stop herself from growling with desire for it. She bared her teeth as she sprang from a horizontal position and found herself face to face—with dinner.

 

"Be very careful,” Kane cautioned.

“Good gods Kane, it’s a newborn!” Deme hissed when she saw the shade rise up from the open cocoon.

“Yes,” he whispered. “And she’s hungry.”

Her black lips parted, snarling as she exposed the full length of her fangs. Luminous white eyes shining like stars and silver hair undulating to Dark World’s infernal breath, she glowered at the two demons.

“Do you happen to have a mask on you?” Kane inquired quietly, keeping his eyes locked on the shade who was now crouching into attack position.

“Yes,” Deme replied, a line of sweat forming along her hairline.

As she slowly reached into a pouch on her hip, Kane was keenly aware of the shade watching their every motion.

“Hurry,” he insisted, noting the shade shift her attention to the tracker. He switched his sword from hand to hand and sliced a figure-eight pattern into the air, successfully diverting the newborn’s focus.

“Got it!” she announced, quickly producing a black ventilator and thrust it in Kane’s direction.

The abrupt movement, however, startled the shade, causing her to hiss and strike like a cobra. She leapt at Deme, arms outstretched and mouth open, taking the six-foot demon down with one hit. Deme punched and clawed the shade in self-defense, dropping the mask as the newborn lunged for her throat.

With one hand, Kane reached for the mask and with the other he grabbed a handful of the shade’s long, silver mane. While pulling her head back and slapping the vent over her nose and mouth, he uttered the word to magically seal the mask to her face, “Prensio.”

He then wrapped an arm around her throat and yanked her off Deme. The shade roared in anger, trying to rip the mask off her face. She thrashed and kicked as Kane dragged her from her prey. It took all his strength to hold her.

“Deme! My pack! There’s twine in my pack!”

She turned and stumbled towards his leather bag propped against a mound of rocks. Deme tore it open and began a frantic search. She located a bundle of cord and upon pulling it out returned to Kane.

“Tie her arms first!” he yelled, struggling to maintain his grip around the fiend’s neck.

Deme attempted to gain hold of the shade’s flailing hands. After acquiring one, she tied the twine firmly around her wrist. As Deme seized hold of her other hand, the shade suddenly brought her entire torso up, perpendicular to Kane, and kicked the tracker square on the throat.

Deme flew several feet backward, skidding along the sand, her mouth formed into a muted scream as the pointed shackles on her wings dug into her back. She clutched her neck and fought to inhale. Several moments later, spitting blood onto the dirt, she managed to take in a few ragged breaths.

“Damn it!” Kane growled at the shade, unsheathing his sword. “Now you’ve just pissed me off!”

He lifted his blade vertically, bringing the heavy, steel handle onto the back of the shade’s head. Instantly falling limp in his arms, he dropped her to the ground and quickly tied her hands and feet together.

“Let’s head home,” Kane ordered as he helped Deme to standing, then asked, “May I have your cape?”

Deme seethed in quiet protest, removing her cloak and handing it to him. He took it, draping it over the nude shade. Kane then bent over, scooped her up and slung her over his shoulder. He cringed as the coolness of her undead body breached his feverish skin.

Even as he held the feral fiend, he couldn’t help but feel the stirrings of hope. If he brought her back to the city, could he tame her? Then convince her to help him and his people? Or would she embrace her dark nature and destroy him?

Would she be a savior for the demons—or their extinction?

 

The Crystal Pyramid

 

With no visible sunlight to assist them in determining time, the creatures of Dark World depended on the faithful explosions of geysers sparsely situated throughout the realm. Upon firing scalding mist into the atmosphere like a canon, the eruptions occurred at a constant rate. Increasing in power and height as the day progressed and gradually lessening towards morning.

Only fifty feet from the nearest, Kane watched as a geyser discharged, sending steam and searing water high into the air.

“It’s getting late,” he stated, readjusting the shade on his shoulder.

Deme’s fiery gaze scrutinized the landscape. “Yes, the death worms will awaken soon.”

“We’ll stay in there,” Kane said, pointing to a cave at the base of Shard Mountain. Exhausted, he lugged the venomous human, still soundly unconscious, over the rocky terrain. Once entering the cave, Kane set the shade down in a corner. He arched his back and groaned, slowly moving towards a large rock and sitting.

Deme eyed him suspiciously, then asked, “When was your last bloodstone?”

Kane replied with a sigh, “A couple of days ago.”

Immediately reaching for her pouch, Deme retrieved a marble-sized, crimson stone. Hand extended, she offered it to him.

He shook his head and held up his hand. “No, you’ll need that for yourself.”

Deme gave him an adamant look and thrust her hand insistently towards him. “You’ll run out of energy soon, take it.”

He exhaled and accepted it from her. Kane held the rock within his fist and squeezed, crushing it. A thin trickle of red ran from within his palm. He tilted his head back and opened his mouth, allowing the essence to drip onto his tongue. A quiet moan escaped him, his blue eyes glowing brighter. After opening his hand, he observed the remnants of the bloodstone. With what little light was available, the bits of rock glimmered as they lay shattered on his open palm. Without the bloodstone, the demons wouldn’t have lasted more than few days after the radiance of the Crystal Pyramid died. Had his father known the true power of the giant monolith, he might not have divided the Bible.

“Do you remember what it was like, Deme?” he asked wistfully. “Before the shades took over?”

She exhaled sharply, sitting down on a large rock across from him. “Of course,” she replied with the same tone of longing. “I was only a child, but I remember.”

Kane looked at the unconscious shade, unable to ignore the streak of anger that coursed through him. He knew none of this was her fault, but she was still one of them.

“Let’s get some rest,” he said, leaning back against the cave wall.

“Yes sir,” Deme replied, crossing her arms over her chest and closing her eyes.

He watched as Deme’s chest rose and fell, she’d succumbed to sleep the moment she shut her eyes, or was very good at pretending to be. Kane looked at their feral prisoner, wondering how long she’d remain comatose. He fought against the fatigue but his eyelids reluctantly closed. Though sleep came quickly, he was immediately plagued with dream-like memories—memories of the apocalypse.

 

The sound of whips cracking echoed from within the mines followed by the pained cries of disobedient humans. The occasional rattle of chains and clanking of pickaxes emanated from within the mountain. The deep, authoritative voices of the demon guards resonated as they commanded the humans to work harder and faster.

Every so often, a cart would rumble out from the darkness, overflowing with bloodstone. Several humans pushed the heavy load, shackles around their necks. Barely acknowledging the young prince as they delivered the cargo beyond the mouth of the cavern, they simply returned to the shadows to labor for more stones, hatred residing behind their eyes.

While he awaited his father’s return, young Kane rest upon a mound of soft moss outside the entrance of the cave, playing with his satchel full of precious gems. He rolled them from one hand to another, admiring the way the tiny jewels glistened and glinted against the prismatic glow of the Crystal Pyramid. He stared into the distance, admiring the enchantment of Dark World’s only source of light. Not only did it provide nutrients for plants to flourish and cleanse the air, it was a source of power—one which fed the demons with unimaginable dark magic.

“I want ten thousand units today, no excuses.” Kane heard his father’s deep voice stem from within the cave.

“Yes, King Lucifer,” a demon guard complied.

The sound of large hooves crushing pebbles approached from behind the young demon. “Ready to go home?”

Kane rose, still watching as the large crystal refracted a rainbow of colors, wondering if the sun on the Surface could possibly be as radiant.

“Father,” the demon child began. “Tell me about the Surface.”

“Again?” his father chuckled.

With an enthusiastic nod and wide eyes pleading, Kane asked, “Yes, what does it look like up there?”

His father’s face warmed with fond recall. He filled his lungs with a deep breath, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. “It’s…beautiful.”

“When’s the last time you were there?”

“Not long ago,” he started, then glanced down at his son. “Don’t worry, you only have to wait two more years and then I’ll take you there,” he said, then muttered under his breath, “Hopefully.”

Young Kane ignored the comment, turning his attention back to the monolith, miles away yet easily visible with the naked eye.

“What’s inside the pyramid?”

His father paused. “I’m not sure,” he began. “Some say it’s solid quartz…others say it’s hollow inside, big enough for an entire city to live in.”

Kane furrowed his brow. “You mean you’ve never gone to see?”

“No.” His father turned serious. “The pyramid is sacred—it is forbidden to enter it.”

Kane’s indigo eyes widened, gazing at the mammoth tetrahedron shimmering in the distance. What secrets did it hold? What ancient wonders were hidden within?

The young prince vowed to find out—someday.

“Can we go home now?” Kane asked his father around a yawn, stretching his talons above him.

“Yes.” The King nodded, his head adorned with a heavy crown of horns. Placing one hand on his son’s shoulder, he swept the other over the awaiting horizon. “Shall we?”

His father unfolded his large bat-like wings and gave a mighty flap, propelling him into the air. With a grin, Kane secured his satchel of gems onto his leather belt, and spreading his young wings wide, joined his father in flight. They rose higher and higher into the atmosphere, father and son soaring over the flourishing landscape. A warm wind kissed his face as Kane pushed his wings harder in attempts to fly faster than his father. They dodged one another playfully, making their way back to the kingdom.

The Crystal Pyramid’s light shifted from light blue to violet, foreshadowing twilight. As it mirrored the illuminated moods of the sun on the Surface, Dark World’s aura varied throughout the day. Just like the Surface at night, Dark World was submerged into an ocean of darkness, only there was no moon or stars to enlighten the shadows. The light of the pyramid had always shone faithful, only muted while it rested for the night.

“We need to hurry,” his father stated with an edge of urgency. “The creatures of the dark will be out soon.”

Kane nodded with understanding. The moment the Crystal Pyramid’s light dimmed for the evening, nocturnal beasts of unfathomable terror would emerge. Most lived on land, unable to reach the soaring demons, but some of the most dangerous could fly.

Legion, the demon kingdom, shadowed the horizon. Tall ivory peaks bordered by a high, white brick wall. Home.

A place of power. Peace.

Until now.

The moment they neared the outskirts of the city, ice moved through the young prince’s veins, hearing screams radiating from within.

“Father! Look!” Kane pointed to columns of fire rising from inside the enclosure. As they moved closer, he could see an onslaught of silver-haired humans attacking the demons. His family.

How? We’re so much stronger than they are! Kane thought, panic growing in his chest.

“Stay here!” his father ordered, diving into the center of the mayhem.

“Father!” the young prince shouted, watching him spiral into the slaughter. It was the last time Kane ever saw the king alive.

Only days later, the Crystal Pyramid fell dark forever—its gift of power and immortality to the demons, gone.

 

A loud shriek woke him.

Dazed, Kane tried to determine whether what he was hearing was real or an echo from his nightmare.

“Sphinxes,” Deme commented, instinctively stroking the sheathed blade mounted on the outside of her thigh. “Let’s hope they don’t know we’re here.”

A flicker of anxiety lit within his core. While a sphinx wasn’t the most fearsome creature they could encounter in the dark wilderness, it was a dangerous and formidable predator.

There are worse, Kane admitted as he glanced to the prisoner in the corner of the cave. Convinced she was still out cold, he then worried he’d hit her too hard and permanently damaged her, but quickly doused the concern. shades were tough. Damn tough. He and the other demons had underestimated them. Until the war, the demons had no idea of the powers the shades held. Powers of healing, magic—and necromancy. But how could they? The shades were a new species in Dark World. An altered breed of human. An abomination.

He stood and wandered to the opening of the cave, scanning the landscape for any sign of sphinxes. Sphinxes were sleek and particularly sly opponents. Flesh eaters, they preyed on anything they could sink their fangs into. If a pack happened upon a lone demon or two, they wouldn’t hesitate to attack.

“Do you want me to do first watch?” Deme asked, drawing her blade.

“No, I’m awake now, you rest and then we’ll switch,” he responded quietly.

“Are you alright?” She moved to his side, close enough for her body heat to mix with his.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Straightening his back, he took a step away.

Without a word, she returned to her seat.

A sense of guilt washed over him. She was only trying to be kind, and she was very beautiful. He just—couldn’t.

Black and gray clouds rolled over the dark horizon, matching the storm in his soul. The image of his wife’s face wavered in his memories like a reflection in water.

Seren.

 

Ever

 

A dream wandered through her unconsciousness. Memories swam by, but never stayed in focus long enough for her to know if they were real or imagined.

Images of violence.

Fear.

Death.

A dagger glinted against the light of a pale moon before it entered her chest.

The boy.

The one who drove the knife into her heart, his voice resounded, “There is no death—only transition.”

Sinking.

Submerging into darkness.

Suddenly standing in a void, she saw a mirror. At first, it reflected a beautiful, yet terrifying fiend with white eyes, black lips, and silver hair. She gasped, placing a pale hand adorned with long, black fingernails against the glass.

What’s happened to me?

A dark fear swelled in her shattered soul. What had she become? What had she been? Shaking her head, the confusion angered her. The image morphed into another figure. Another face. A girl with long brown hair stared back at her, eyes the color of the sea.

The stars, the image whispered. Remember the stars.

But before she could recall the stars, a hunger, deep and aching, ripped through her body, overshadowing the dream. Her eyes snapped open, focusing on her surroundings.

Where am I?

The cave walls were damp with sweat from the heated rocks. Gold glistened on the surface like a network of amber veins. Creatures howled outside the cavern, a nocturnal world submerged in evil.

Come home, daughter, come home!

The voice, it was familiar. Somehow she knew. It resonated in her core. Sung by an anonymous mother she had yet to meet and hungered to find. The call—the need—to go home ate at her insides. A home she’d never seen, but felt its essence crawl beneath her skin like a million spiders.

She eyed the sleeping she-demon and seethed with hate. These demons were mortal enemies, she felt it with all her being. Their existence disgusted her, except—their scent. Their unbelievably delicious scent made her mouth water. The horrendous mask the male demon had sealed over her face somehow curbed the intensity of their aroma, but did not quash it.

Her eyes closed, hearing the hot blood as it rushed through their veins. Their hearts pumped the pure, crimson bliss throughout their bodies. But it wasn’t their blood she craved—she needed their souls.

She bared her fangs behind the visor and suppressed the growl of desire rising into her throat.

At the opening of the cave, a large shadow blended with the night, his head hung in apparent sorrow. The shade began slicing at the rope with the tips of her black fingernails—and formulated a plan of attack.

 

The memory of Seren’s scream tortured him, followed by the whisper of her final breath. Closing his eyes, he fought the emotions that threatened to rise to the surface. He clenched his hands tight, talons piercing, drawing blood from his palms. The pain on the outside could never equate the hurt within. His beautiful Seren—soulless—and it was his fault. He gritted his teeth, regret slicing through him.

If only I’d stayed home that day.

Long ebony hair had gathered under her head like a feather pillow, cushioning her as she stared up at Kane. Her amber eyes glistened with unshed tears while her chest fought to take one more breath.

“Kane…” she whispered, blood escaping the side of her mouth and traversing the line of her jaw. “Don’t let them win.”

He shook his head, tears rolling over his taut, black skin. “I won’t…I won’t.”

A shadow fell over her eyes as she uttered one last wish, “Save Dark World…for Ever.”

He held Seren’s lifeless body, crying for the second time in his life. His father’s death had been the first. His wife, his love—was gone. Had the light of the Crystal Pyramid still gazed lovingly upon the demons, he could have saved her. He could have transferred her soul. Possessed another body with her essence.

Anguish consumed him. Hate owned him. They’d killed his one, true mate. His soul mate.

The scroll…I should have given it to them, Seren, Kane brooded, the memory of that moment leaving claw marks upon his heart. They have it now anyways.

He hung his head, knowing he was wrong to think that way, he knew the consequences if he gave up.

If my mother find all the pages, my love, we will lose our world forever.

The recollection fading, one last glimpse into the past drifted through his thoughts. Those last moments before he left his home, before he descended into the underground kingdom.

Their humble abode torn to shreds, he frantically searched for the only light he had left in his life—his daughter, Ever.

 

“Kane! Watch out!” Deme hollered, freeing her blade from its cover and pointing it at the shade.

Kane spun around, raising his elbow to shield himself. He caught sight of the shade stalking him from within the shadows. She’d managed to liberate herself from the ropes, the prowess of her sleek body impressive as she hunted him. Draped in Deme’s long black cloak, she moved with instinctual intent, eyes locked on Kane.

He challenged her gaze, slowly reaching back for his sword. As he gripped the handle and pulled, the hum of the black blade sliding from its perch resonated within the chamber.

Armed with a curved dagger, Deme moved stealthily toward the shadows behind the shade.

The shade released a low, guttural snarl, tossing an anxious glance from one demon to the other. Apparently deciding she was outmatched, she pushed her back against the wall of the cave, bent her knees, and curled up onto the floor.

“She’s just hungry,” Kane concluded, putting his sword away. “We’ll have to find her something soon, before she loses all that’s human in her.”

Upon hearing the word human, the shade’s head snapped up, white eyes narrowed with suspicious interest. Inspecting Kane, she tilted her head to the side.

Deme glanced back and forth between the shade and Kane. “Did she just…understand you?”

Frowning, Kane responded, “I can’t see how, shades have to learn to speak Attra, they aren’t born knowing it.”

He approached the shade huddled on the floor.

“Do you understand me?”

The shade glowered and tucked tighter into a ball. Like a wild animal cornered, she uttered a low rumble from the back of her throat, warning him not to come any closer.

He shook his head and prepared to stand. “No, she must have just…” he began, but stopped when he heard a small voice whisper in his native tongue.

“Yes.”

 

Fate

 

Dark World’s storm had quieted overnight, allowing the ash to settle on the ground like steel shavings. Akin to fresh fallen snow on the Surface, the billowing cinders drifted over the open valley. Scattered skeletons of long-dead beasts protruded from the smothering sands and cinders, a pale graveyard of half-buried bones. Remnants of a voracious and ruthless realm.

The trio trudged through the ankle-high layer of grey powder. Kane and Deme walked ahead, voices low as their prisoner sauntered reluctantly behind. A new rope had been tied around her wrists since she’d somehow destroyed the other. This time, however, Kane placed an unbreakable enchantment on it and created an extension of the rope to hold in his hands, like a leash.

“How could she know Attra? It doesn’t make sense. shades are born without knowledge of this world.” Deme’s brows furled.

Bewildered, Kane responded, “I have no idea, I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“We should take her to the Oracle, she will know,” Deme hissed, glancing over her shoulder at the feral human.

Kane silently agreed. He’d already planned on taking the shade to see the Oracle, if he could find the elusive prophetess. She wasn’t one to stay put for very long. The Oracle would know what to do, or at least guide him in the right direction. But he needed to hurry, time was growing short.

He felt a tug on the rope and realized the shade was lagging. Immediately slowing his velocity, he turned to look at her. Her pale skin was even paler and her glowing eyes were dimming.

She needs food.

Surveying his surroundings, he saw that they were approaching the Crystalline Forest.

There might be something there for her to…eat.

He grimaced. He’d seen shades eat, it was disturbing.

Noticeably shifting their heading toward the forest, Deme inquired with a hint of angst, “We’re going in there?”

“Yes, the shade needs food and there should be plenty of creatures in there.”

Her face twisted in displeasure. Apparently Deme didn’t like to watch shades eat either. She tapped the dagger on her thigh with her long talons, seemingly aware the reputation of the Crystalline Forest. Beautiful, yet rich with deadly creatures.

A light sparked behind the she-demon’s eyes. “If we keep her weak,” she glanced back, “she can’t use her powers.”

Kane shook his head. “They’re powerless until they are a few weeks old anyways, then all hell breaks loose.”

From the wary expression on Deme’s face, Kane knew she wasn’t convinced. And frankly, neither was he.

 

Hundreds of thick, quartz shafts protruded from the rocky floor like crystal tree trunks. Each had a unique hue emanating from within, some pink, some yellow, and some green. Many had fallen over, their trunks perched at precarious angles and branches left shattered upon the ground.

The forest floor was smooth and iridescent, tinged pink. White striations and thin cracks ran throughout like broken glass.

The shade admired the polished ground and wondered if it were comprised of pure rose quartz.

Funny, she thought, How is it I can’t remember my name or where I came from, but I can recognize types of rocks?

Enormous geodes lay about the forest resembling giant boulders. Some were split in half, displaying a crystallized rainbow of colors inside. Ahead, a towering mountain reached for the rocky roof, hot mineral water poured from its highest peak creating a cascading steam bath below. The scorching pool whirled and bubbled, sending tendrils of white mist to hover over the forest floor, simmering and spilling over like a witch’s cauldron.

Clad in the she-demon’s black cloak, the shade strolled through the crystalline woods in awe. She didn’t remember much about her previous existence, but she knew she’d never seen anything so beautiful. If it wasn’t so incredibly hot, she might have guessed the entire setting were made of ice.

Glancing up at the ceiling of rock, she felt oddly dismayed by the lack of sky. Though it was hundreds, even thousands, of feet between the ground and ceiling, she couldn’t shake feeling claustrophobic. It was then she noticed several odd-looking spherical pods dangling from the branches of the crystal trees. Like huge green balloons, they swayed in the burning breeze. She watched with fascination as one of the orbs fidgeted, as if something were inside trying to get out.

What’s in there?

She tilted her head way back and strained to see, examining the oddity.

“Are you coming?” the male demon inquired, giving the leash a yank. The she-demon turned and stood with one hand on her hip, her long, red tail flicking impatiently.

The shade began walking again, intermittently gazing up at the curious wriggling cocoon. Soon, it rocked so violently that it broke free from the branch and plummeted to the ground, landing with a hollow thud at her feet. The perfectly round shell rolled on its own volition before coming to a stop against her calf. While kneeling to inspect the anomaly, she was again yanked forward by the leash, this time, much harder. Nearly tripping from the force of the pull, the shade felt an angry burn ripple through her body. She snarled and glared at the male demon’s muscular back. A distinct heat pulsated in her core. She lowered her chin and concentrated on him, the sensation in her abdomen getting stronger—and hotter. Wind generated around her like a violent storm building in her aura. Her entire body buzzed with electricity and her hair whipped and waved about her head.

What’s happening to me?

With her breath coming fast and hard, she wasn’t sure she could hold onto the power much longer. She exhaled with a sigh, releasing the energy. A huge ball of white lightning exploded from her solar plexus. Brilliant and pulsating, it raced through the air, crackling and snapping as fingers of electricity snarled around it. The sphere slammed into the male demon’s back, dissipating between his shoulder blades and sending him hurtling nearly fifteen feet. He landed hard on his chest, unmoving. The female demon gasped and ran to him.

“Kane! Are you alright?” she said as she shook his lifeless body.

After receiving no response, Deme turned to the shade, red lips curled, eyes blazing, and unsheathed her blade. Her long silver dagger drawn and raised, the she-demon charged, thrusting the blade at the shade’s chest. The shade blocked the demon’s attack with her bound hands, then turned and side-kicked her opponent in the stomach. Winded, the demon fell onto her knees, coughing and spitting as she tried to catch her breath.

“Won’t try that again, will you?” The shade sneered, almost hoping she would.

The shade looked at the male demon, her brow furled at the sight of his lifeless body. A twinge of regret pulled at her core, the stirrings of a muted voice attempting to break through. Something deep within told this was wrong. That she shouldn’t hurt others.

The darkness stalking the perimeter of her soul leapt forward, trying to silence the frail conscience. Smother it. But it was too late, she’d already heard it. Recognized it.

The shade approached the one called Kane and knelt down beside him. His body heat radiated toward her bare skin as she contemplated if—and how—she could help him.

 

Every inch of his body ached. A dull throb consumed every muscle.

Damn shade! She wasn’t supposed to have her powers yet!

He winced as he attempted to move his arm and realized he was paralyzed. Panic washed over him.

What the hell did she do? I’ve never known a shade to incapacitate someone like this!

Suddenly, a gentle hand caressed his back and he tensed inside his skin.

Deme, Kane assumed as the uninvited softness slid across over shoulder blades. He thought it odd that Deme’s palm felt surprisingly cool for a demon.

Discomfort twisted in his gut. He hadn’t felt a female’s touch since before his wife died. While it felt nice, he couldn’t help but endure a pang of guilt. Seren’s image flashed through his thoughts and a pain pierced his soul.

She’s dead, Kane, you have to move on.

No matter how many times he told himself that, it never sunk in. Don’t the bonds of love still remain even if one is gone? Didn’t the cohesion that held them together in life still exist beyond the physical? He just couldn’t convince himself otherwise.

Just as he was beginning to accept her touch, a sensation possessed him, like ice shards slicing every inch of his body. He twitched and writhed in pain, wondering if the agony would every end. Then, as quickly as it began, it stopped. His entire being exploded with newfound energy. The paralysis was gone. All the pain was just—gone.

His entire body radiated from within. As if every cell in his body had exploded with light, he felt buoyant, like pure energy. A magnetic desire consumed him, drawing him in. An urge like no other. A power. His heart beat in stride with another. As though two had become one. For a fleeting moment, he and this other being shared their energies—their souls.

Then it pulled away. Like having the first beam of sunshine to grace his skin, it was suddenly dark again and he was thrust into the cold, lonely night.

His eyes wide, he jumped to his hooves and took a fleeting look around, expecting to see Deme at his side. Things became clear immediately. Deme was standing several feet away—the shade was right beside him.

“What did you do to me?” he growled, more upset she’d touched him than that she’d wounded him.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was small as she stared at the ground, avoiding his glare.

Once again taken aback by her ability to understand and speak their language, Kane nodded. He dusted himself off and gave the shade a long, hard look.

Why did she heal me? She could have left me—but she didn’t.

Was he wrong about shades? Were they not born inherently wicked? Why would this being help him if she were truly evil?

He looked her up and down, her shoulders slumped and head bowed, wondering if it were possible. Was there just enough of her human nature left inside of her to keep the monster at bay? Could he trust her?

Kane had seen these creatures do vile things. Cruel and merciless slayings of the innocent. Children even. If he gave this one a chance, he might not live to regret it.

She was born alone. His inner voice undermined his logic. Did this make her so different from the others? You need her.

The voice spoke the truth. His people needed her. He needed her.

It occurred to him that if he initiated a mutual trust—a truce—maybe she’d agree to help him. She didn’t know it, but she was the demons’ hope for salvation. Not just for the demons, but for countless races dwelling within the subterranean world. His father had ruled over all of them. He had been the Devil. Now Malus ruled over the races and this shade could be their last chance at saving Dark World.

He suddenly reached out, placed his hands upon her bound wrists, and whispered, “Dimitterre.”

Deme moved to protest when she realized what he was doing, but was too late. The ropes had fallen to the ground. Disenchanted.

As she rubbed her wrists, the shade looked up at the demon, her eyes filled with appreciation.

He sincerely hoped he wasn’t going to regret releasing her. “Do you remember your name?”

Pain filled her eyes. She searched her empty memory banks, then shook her head in frustration.

Kane eyed her carefully, thinking of his people.

“Then we shall name you Fate…for that is what you hold in your hands.”

 

Torn

 

Seated on a large geode sharpening his sword, Kane chuckled as he watched the shade’s child-like behavior. She’d found the fallen pod, the catalyst of their earlier dispute, and latched onto it like a child with a new toy.

It was surprising to see her act so—human. Kane hadn’t been around a newborn shade for any length of time, he’d only witnessed the horrors they were capable of when they matured.

Deme had gone into the forest to hunt, leaving Kane and Fate to rest in a clearing. While she had offered to find them food, Kane wondered if Deme was displeased with him for freeing the shade and needed to be alone. He wasn’t sure if releasing the shade was the right thing to do, but he felt something he couldn’t quite explain. A building trust? An alliance? He didn’t know for certain, but ever since she healed him, he’d felt the quickening of something he couldn’t name growing inside him. A seed germinating within his soul.

He knew he should be concerned about allowing her to run freely, what with her apt ability to kill, but she’d proven she didn’t mean to harm him and with the mask disabling her from eating, he didn’t have to worry about losing his soul.

“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” Kane warned as Fate knelt down and poked at the basketball-sized pod with her finger.

“Why?” Fate asked, rolling it around. “Is it dangerous?”

Kane smirked. She’d find out soon enough.

“What’s in there? Will it hurt me?” An innocent wonder danced behind her illuminated eyes as she nudged the oddity.

“Not exactly,” he responded. “I just wouldn’t play with…”

Before he could finish his warning, she prodded the shell one last time and it split wide open with a loud snap. Slimy green ooze sprayed in all directions, large globules landing on her head, face and shoulders.

“Uhh!” she shouted, quickly backing away from it.

“I warned you,” he said.

“You didn’t tell me it was going to explode!”

She ran her fingers through her long white hair, now streaked lime, and scowled at Kane when he laughed at her.

“How am I going to get this stuff off?” she whined, holding her hands out and examining the sticky substance. “Ick!”

“Ick,” a tiny voice mimicked her from within the cracked pod. “Ick.”

“What the…?” Fate’s eyes narrowed, peering into the fractured cocoon.

At first, the only features visible were the eyes—large, round, glowing green eyes—then a furry, white face poked out.

A triangular pink nose resided in the center of a short muzzle, reminiscent of a Persian cat. Slitted pupils dilated mischievously within emerald orbs. Then the rest of him tumbled out, revealing the creature’s arms, legs, hands and feet, all covered with soft, white hair. Fluffy wings stemmed from the center of its back to its wrists. The only things that distinguished it from being a cat, other than the wings, were its enormous pointed ears and mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.

“What is this thing?” Fate asked, mesmerized by the little beast.

“A gargoyle,” Kane replied, nonchalant. “You can eat it if you want to.”

“What?! I could never hurt this little guy,” she replied, holding her hands out to the gargoyle who in turn toddled towards her, his winged arms open wide.

Kane ceased what he was doing and tried to suppress the look of shock on his face. She didn’t want to eat it? All he’d ever known of shades was their insatiable hunger for souls, it didn’t matter who or what they stole it from. He’d never seen one show mercy—until now.

As Fate scooped the baby gargoyle up into her arms like a kitten and cuddled it, Kane felt a sensation in his chest that he hadn’t felt for a very long time. Warmth curled around his heart, seeping into his soul. He shook his head, quashing the feeling immediately.

Don’t be ridiculous, she’s…a killer. She’s a shade. She’s not capable of kindness or—love. He glanced again at the scene. Is she?

 

She giggled as she played with the newborn gargoyle, experiencing the first sense of peace since she’d arrived in this foreign world. She’d felt so torn with this new place.

And the voice.

The voice that had welcomed her to Dark World, the voice that haunted her from the moment she’d arrived was growing louder. Begging for her to come home.

Where is home?

She recalled a place where she raised her face to a brilliant ball of light shining in an open, blue sky. A place where oceans of tall green grass rolled in waves over voluptuous fields. Where snowflakes waltzed within a crisp, morning air, glistening like weightless diamonds. As memories trickled through her awareness, flashes of her former life haunted her, as did the girl she saw in the mirror.

“Ick.” The gargoyle purred and pawed at her leg gently, comforting her as if sensing her inner torment.

“Is that your name? Ick?”

Fate picked him up, intending to introduce him to Kane. She was stroking the soft fur on his back when she smelled something. Something delicious. Worried her hunger was getting the better of her and she was picking up Kane’s scent again, she started to back away. She’d been trying hard to ignore his enticing aroma. The mask he’d attached to her face was annoying, but helped to dull the desire to consume him. Even though her instinct was to devour him, she didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to hurt him.

She scanned the forest with her infrared eyes. At first, she saw nothing, but then, from deep within the shadows, she saw them. Red eyes—lots of them.

“Kane,” she whispered, hoping to get his attention without alerting the ones stalking them.

“Yes?”

“There’s something…out there,” she said, her voice low as she gestured towards the woods.

Kane immediately stood and gazed into the depths of the Crystalline Forest.

“It might be Deme,” he offered, uncertainty tainting his voice.

Fate countered, shaking her head, “No, there’s more than one.”

“Get behind me,” he ordered, raising his sword and glaring into the dark.

“I can help you!” She narrowed her eyes at the hulking black demon and stomped her foot against the forest’s marbled floor.

His blue eyes flared in warning, a look of stubborn determination eclipsing his face. Fate tucked Ick tightly under her arm and moved reluctantly behind Kane.

Now closer than she’d ever been to him, she examined the demon. Her eyes drawn to him. His physique. His sheer presence left her breath caught in her throat.

He exuded a palpable air of nobility and honor, yet a quiet vulnerability lurked beneath the surface. With his jaw clenched and muscular body poised for battle, she couldn’t help but allow her gaze to linger longer than intended. Her stare slid over his extraordinary form, noting the multitude of scars marring his velvety black skin, a patchwork of his many battles and hardships. She wondered how it would feel to run her hands along his arms, his shoulders—his back.

It was odd, she considered suddenly. The first day they’d laid eyes upon one another, there was an instant hatred. An instinctive distrust and loathing. Except now, only a day later, her feelings had changed drastically. Something was different. But what? And how?

Ever since I touched him…

The low rumbling from the throat of a wild animal jarred her from her reverie. The creatures edged nearer, their red eyes closing in around them. From all sides, the beasts glowered, their identities hidden by the darkness. Kane’s gaze panned the forest, anticipating an attack. He bared his fangs and growled at the unseen stalkers, maneuvering his sword in a figure eight pattern.

The owners of the red eyes emerged from the shadows and came into focus. Four enormous creatures with hulking cat-like bodies sauntered towards them. Oddly, their faces were somewhat human, yet blended with feline features. Their massive paws padded on the quartz floor, long curved claws clicking with every step. Heads lowered, their crimson eyes locked onto their prey. They displayed a mouthful of shark-like teeth, grinning as they formed a semi-circle around Kane and Fate.

“Sphinxes,” Kane uttered with a shaky breath. Four times the size of a male lion, they stood tall enough to look the seven-foot demon in the eyes. “Even if Deme were here, we could never take on four sphinxes—even two demons against one sphinx is tricky.”

Hidden beneath the black cloak, Ick squirmed and whimpered against her. Fate studied the beasts, wrestling with the building ache in her chest. She held her breath, struggling to block the overwhelming aroma. Hugging Ick closer, she tried to hold on. Clinging to a shred of her humanity.

Don’t! Don’t lose yourself!

Forced to inhale, the scent snaked behind the mask and wound itself around her instinct. Something evolved inside her. Something dark—and hungry.

Fate turned and set the tiny gargoyle down. She reached out and placed a cool hand on Kane’s arm. His hot, black skin felt like fire on her palm. Startled, his head turned sharply towards her. His eyes widened.

The lust had won. Pulled into darkness, an evil had taken over. She forced the words from her salivating mouth, commanding Kane, “Take off the mask.”

 

Fate’s aura pulsed black. A dark, writhing mist churned and snarled around her body. Her eyes, once bright as stars, had flooded ebony. As though tar had seeped into the skin around her eyes and invaded her veins, blackness leeched like a masquerade mask. Kane shuddered at the sight of her.

For his own safety, he considered leaving the mask on, but with the wrath of four sphinxes edging closer, he knew what had to be done. He brought his hand to her face and cupping the black mask within his palm, he whispered, “Demitterre.”

His only hope was that she wouldn’t turn on him.

 

Unleashed

 

A fevered craving swelled within her chest. An evil awakened. The monster inside her was anxious, giddy for the taste of death.

She hissed, baring her porcelain fangs. Her onyx eyes shone with malevolent excitement. With the grace of a true predator, she crouched into attack position and brandished her claws. She ran her tongue over her ebony lips, anticipating the meal to come. With a final taunting grin, she shrieked like a banshee and sprung. Aiming for the lead sphinx, she dug her nails into its left shoulder and maneuvered herself onto its back, straddling him. The sphinx howled in pain. It whipped its head back and forth, gnashing its razor-sharp teeth.

Two more beasts lunged at her, but the last turned its attention to Kane. She watched it saunter away, tail flicking with gleeful eagerness, teeth glinting in its open mouth. The sphinxes swatted her with their enormous paws. She veered and dodged their attempts with unfathomable speed.

Tossing a concerned glance in Kane’s direction, she sensed she had to stop toying with the monstrous creatures and end this quickly. She reached around the sphinx she was mounted on and drove her lance-like claws into the soft curvature of its neck. Upon severing the jugular, blood sprayed onto the hot, dry ground. The mighty creature slumped forward and then fell onto its side with a resounding thud, its lifeblood trickling away.

The two sphinxes advanced, fury raging behind their ruby eyes.

Fate positioned herself on the back of the fallen sphinx and, with one forceful leap, propelled to the top of an angled crystal shard. The creatures roared and slashed at the base of the hexagonal trunk. Perched like a cat atop the icy tree, she sneered at her adversaries, her eyes like polished obsidian, narrowed and mocking.

In the midst of her teasing, however, her limbs weakened and she nearly lost her hold on the branch. Lethargy invaded her muscles. Her mind swam in several directions. Dizzy, she leaned against the crystal stalk and hoped it would pass quickly.

What’s wrong with me?

She forced her head to turn Kane’s way, helpless as she watched him struggle to stay alive.

 

His stance low and centered, heart hammering against his ribcage, Kane glowered at the oncoming beast. The sphinx lowered its torso, tail flicking like a kitten ready to pounce on a mouse, humanoid face grinning atop its feline form. For a moment, time froze, neither making the first move. Then a flash of excitement crossed the beast’s eyes, his pupils enlarging.

Here we go, Kane thought, summoning strength as he gripped his sword tighter.

With one mighty pounce, the sphinx launched its thousand pound body at Kane. The demon leaned far to the right, narrowly missing being raked across the face with an enormous paw. Kane cast a fleeting look to Fate sitting high upon a ruinous shard. As she fended off two sphinxes, he suddenly found himself concerned about the outcome. Before now, the death of a shade would be rejoiced. But now, he wasn’t sure he’d feel that way.

The sphinx sprung, his jaw snapping shut near Kane’s leg, but he evaded by lunging hard to the left.

Pay attention, Kane!

Furious, the large cat spun around, eyes burning like embers. Saliva dangled from its canines, dotting the ground with damp circles. Ears folded back, the feral creature sprang forth. Kane’s heart raced as the world moved in slow motion. He raised his blade to greet the soft underbelly of the beast, but was ambushed by another sphinx batting him across the torso. His sword clattered as it hit the ground. The first sphinx landed atop Kane with a thud, knocking the wind out of him. His lungs begging for air, he felt around for his sword and came up empty-handed. Flat on his back and helpless, the demon looked up to see the sphinx’s mouth open—targeting his head.

 

Kane!

From her roost atop the crystal tree, she watched as two sphinxes focused on Kane. A single sphinx clawed the icy bark of the shard Fate sat on, waiting for her to come down.

I have to help him.

She stood, balancing on the sleek crystal stalk, then slid down the shaft. As she picked up speed, she positioned her hands ahead of her, aiming for the creature’s face. Ready for her, the sphinx roared, flashing his teeth and opening his mouth wide. His eyes narrowed with a dark intellect as she moved closer. Within a few feet of his gaping maw, Fate pushed off the crystal and thrust herself into the space above. She flipped mid-air, landing like an agile feline behind him. Rapidly driving her claws into his back, she stabbed him over and over until he fell.

As she turned to help Kane, however, she was again overcome with fatigue. Fate staggered and fell to her knees. She could not even muster the strength to crawl to him.

What’s wrong with me?

She rested her porcelain cheek upon the cool, quartz ground. Drained, she glimpsed the dying sphinx only a few feet away—and suddenly knew what she needed.

Fate forced her lethargic body forward, digging her nails into the quartz and dragging herself slowly toward the ailing beast.

Almost there…

With every fragile exhale, the sphinx’s slow, hot breath blew her white hair back. He lay on his side, his faded red eyes watching with weakened interest as she slid a pale hand over his chest. While running her fingers through the tawny fur, an impulse overwhelmed her. She’d never done this before, but somehow, she knew what to do. She placed her hand over his heart, and fought to stay conscious, whispering, “Animus.”

The sphinx whimpered, and shortly thereafter—screamed. Beneath his russet coat, his chest cavity throbbed. It heaved harder and faster as if his imprisoned heart was pounding to be freed from its skeletal cage. With the beast’s final breath, the skin split open. Flesh and bone parted to form a bloody fissure. Amidst the gore, a glow glistened, small at first and then grew in radiance. An illuminated orb emerged, pulsating with iridescent white and blue flames, then glided into Fate’s waiting hands. She brought the creation close to her face, shut her eyes and inhaled. As it entered through her nose and mouth, sapphire wisps slid down her throat and nourished her body.

Her eyes, transformed onyx by the hunger, softened back to glowing white. Recharged, her body felt sleek and powerful.

She stood, her eyes lowering to the beast in which she’d just consumed. Disgust writhed within.

What have I become?

 

Kane fought against the crushing weight, struggling with every last ounce of strength to keep the beast from wrapping its lips around his head and squashing it like a berry.

Deme! Where the hell are you?!

For one terrible moment, Kane considered that the sphinxes may have already crossed paths with his tracker and killed her. He could not entertain any amount of sorrow for long. With strands of drool wetting his face, he could do nothing but watch as the sphinx lowered his head to take a bite.

The demon shut his eyes and prepared to go down like a warrior—brave and honorable.

It was in that last moment, when Kane felt his heart rise into his throat, that the beast let out an agonizing howl and jumped off. Kane frowned as he watched the beast thrash violently. Finally, he smiled when he recognized his rescuer. He searched for his sword so he could lend a hand.

Kane fought back laughter as he watched little Ick poke the sphinx in the eyes. The tiny white gargoyle shrieked, clinging with all his might to the sphinx’s face while the beast bucked and rammed its head into the crystal tree trunks.

“I’m here, Ick,” Kane called to him and raised his sword, thrusting it forward, piercing the suffering sphinx between the shoulder blades. Ick jumped down, scampered away and hid quivering in a broken geode. The blind and wounded beast staggered through the trees, wailing as it retreated into the darkness. The last sphinx followed suit, apparently unwilling to tangle with the duo.

Kane smiled, basking in the glory of victory. He scanned the area for Fate, hoping she was unhurt. While he breathed a deep sigh of relief when he finally spotted her, his brow immediately furrowed.

Knelt before the pond, weeping as she gazed at her reflection, she uttered, “I used to be human, but now…I’m a monster.”

 

Damned

 

Kane surveyed the carnage Fate had left in her wake. He was shocked she’d been able to perform so efficiently.

I shouldn’t be surprised. He shrugged. She’s born to kill.

The now soulless body of the sphinx lay motionless on its side with a gaping hole in its chest.

It will be transforming soon.

The metamorphosis of a living, breathing creature to that of the undead had always saddened him. Once a shade consumed a soul, the victim was forever damned to wander Dark World as a shadow. Trapped in a dimension of non-existence, they couldn’t be released from their misery until the shade that had stolen their soul was found—and killed. Only then could the ghostly prisoner be reunited with its soul and liberated from limbo.

Only then can Seren be free. Kane’s eyes darkened. If only I knew the one who killed her.

His thoughts drifted once again to his last days with Seren. Only a short time before she was murdered by shades, they were holding one another and dreaming of the future. He swore he’d never forget the look in her eyes when he told her what he’d found hidden beneath Dark World.

 

“Are you going to tell me what the big secret is?” Seren’s amber eyes overflowed with playful impatience as she wrapped her arms around Kane’s waist. “What have you been up to for the last few days?”

Even though a freshly killed hellhound carcass hung on a hook outside the habitat, she somehow knew he’d had another agenda during this excursion. While they’d spent many hunting trips secretly searching for it—they’d finally found it.

With a mischievous grin on his face, Kane replied, “Hmm, I’m not sure I should tell you. I may need some—persuasion.”

“Persuasion, huh?” she said, adding a hint of seduction to her voice and kissing his chest.

He fought the groan building in his throat. With their newborn daughter napping in the next room, he silenced himself.

Seren giggled. “Tell me then.”

Kane looked down at his wife, love warming his heart. He adored the way her black bangs feathered above her ocher eyes and how she always had a smile upon her face—especially since she’d given birth to Ever. Gently wiping away an ebony lock of hair that had trespassed across the slope of her jaw, he ran his fingers down her neck and over her shoulder. She visibly shivered at his touch and tilted her head to the side, resting her cheek upon his arm.

“Tell me,” Seren whispered.

“We found it, Seren!” Kane said excitedly. “We found the lost city!”

Disbelief crossed her eyes, quickly replaced by joy. “Are you sure?”

“It’s big enough for everyone.” He paced the tiny room, then turned to her and added with a hushed voice, “We’ll be free from the shades. From Malus.”

Seren visibly winced at the mention of the fiends that had enslaved them. The clandestine demon rebellions, known as Legion, had gone to unfathomable lengths to conceal Seren’s pregnancy, which included faking both Kane’s and Seren’s deaths.

She glanced toward the room that held their new infant daughter. Tears welled in her eyes, her voice thick with emotion. “She’ll be safe. Malus will never know of her existence.”

Kane’s expression turned serious. “She will be safe,” he reaffirmed. “Ever will not be possessed by that monster, I promise you.”

His wife’s eyes brightened. “When do we move?”

He held his head high, pulled her into his arms and said, “Soon. A month, maybe two. Then, we’ll be free.”

 

After waiting hours for Deme to return from her hunt, Kane realized he and Fate were going to have to continue without her. The two sphinxes may have left defeated, but Kane feared the beasts may have gone to recruit reinforcements and return to finish what they had started. While he and Fate made their way out of the forest, Kane kept a vigilant eye out for his potentially wounded, or dead, tracker.

Fate had fallen silent after the battle, seemingly locked within her thoughts. Even tiny Ick could not break the spell of sadness lurking behind her eyes. Kane noticed she’d voluntarily placed the mask back on her face. While it would certainly diminish the intoxicating scents that likely bombarded her, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was simply attempting to hide behind it.

Awkwardness owned the air between them as they walked side by side amongst the glassy shards of the Crystalline Forest. Thankfully, Ick broke the tension when he began leaping back and forth from Kane’s shoulder to Fate’s. Like an agile monkey, he bounced between them, repeating his name each time he landed, “Ick…Ick…Ick.”

Eyes lighting up for the first time since the encounter with the sphinxes, Fate met Kane’s concerned gaze.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his brow creasing.

She shook her head and quietly asked, “What happened to me? Why am I here?”

Sighing, Kane responded with another question, “What do you remember about the Surface?”

Frowning, she replied, “The Surface?”

“When you were human.”

Staring out at the quartz wilderness, she searched her memories.

“I remember almost everything—except who I am.” Her eyes lowered. “Who I was.”

Kane tried his best to explain. “This is Dark World,” he began, sweeping his arm over the landscape. “The humans call it by many names. The Underworld, Tartarus, Gehenna…Hell.”

She visibly shuddered with the last reference. “How did I get here?”

“You were sent here.”

“Sent?”

He weighed his words carefully, then replied, “Damned.”

Hurt and fear crossed her eyes as she hugged her torso. “I don’t understand.”

His large black chest rose and fell, contemplating how much he should divulge. If he were to say too much, he could inadvertently awaken her primal urges again, driving her into the arms of the enemy.

“Many centuries ago, a great demon king reigned over this land,” Kane started. “We were a strong and powerful people. Magic ran thick through our veins.”

He paused as they came to the edge of the forest and pointed to a dark monolith in the distance. “The Crystal Pyramid, the source of our power…well, was the source, until it was disabled by…”

Obviously intrigued, Fate turned to meet his gaze. “Disabled by whom?”

“The king.” Kane tried to keep his voice steady, the scars of his father’s actions still stinging.

With a perplexed look, she asked, “Why would he disable the source of your power?”

“I…don’t know,” he lied, regretting he’d started the conversation. He wanted to tell her everything. Tell her about his mother. The scrolls. Something about her made him trust her, but he knew there was an inherent evil burrowed within her, an evil that hadn’t awakened yet. Despite her willingness to heal and protect him, her gentleness with Ick, and her resistance to act on her predatory instincts, she was still created for destruction. She was still a servant of Malus. If he told her too much—if he spoke the name of her master—would her dark nature rise to the surface?

All she needed was a shred of her former self to resist the darkness—just a sliver of her soul left within. But was it still there?

 

Vague memories flashed through her mind with his words, it all sounded so familiar, yet she felt as if she were trying to capture a butterfly by its wings. What had happened to her? Who damned her to this place? The girl in her dream, the one with brown hair, she was the key.

Fate wanted to ask more questions, but saw a glint of anguish behind the demon’s blazing blue eyes. She decided not to press it—for now. Besides, there were far more important matters to attend to as she recognized a familiar figure lying motionless on the ground ahead of them.

“Deme!” Kane shouted, bolting across the parched, red landscape.

Face down with a stream of blood trickling from between her lips, Deme moaned in response to Kane’s call. He knelt down as he reached her and tried to determine how badly she was wounded. An angry laceration wept blood from her right shoulder and a wound gaped on her waist.

“Deme, what happened?” he asked, examining her body from head to toe. “Sphinxes?”

She nodded and mumbled incoherently, trying to push herself up, managing to bend her elbows an inch or so before losing consciousness and flopping onto the dirt.

Kane exhaled, then turned and eyed the shade intently. “Can you heal her…like you healed me?”

“I…don’t know,” Fate began. “I’m not even sure how I did it the first time, but I can try.”

She folded her legs beneath her and sat near Deme’s torso. Fate laid her hands upon the she-demon’s hot back, careful not to bump her shackled wings. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to conjure the same feelings she’d felt when she mended Kane. While a warm sensation stirred within, she couldn’t replicate the process. The wounds ceased to bleed, but she wasn’t able seal them.

“I’m sorry,” Fate said, taking her hands away from Deme’s back and staring at her palms like they were broken. “That’s all I can do.”

Kane nodded. “Thank you for trying. Let’s get moving, we have to get her to the city as soon as possible, the shaman can help her.”

He grunted as he lifted the female warrior and slung her gently over his shoulder. “Come, we can make it to the demon city in a day or two.”

Demon city?

She swallowed hard and glanced at Kane, recalling their first meeting.

We’re going to a city filled with demons that hate shades. Great.

 

Cryptica

 

Deme weighed heavily on his shoulder, but not any more than the game he usually acquired on hunting excursions. He set her lifeless body down every hour or so to stretch and switch shoulders. To Kane’s relief, she would groan occasionally, reminding him she was alive.

While they trekked ever closer to the demon city, he had to admit it was a bit strange strolling along the dark shores of the Nephthys River with a shade. The black, oozing tar of the river gurgled and burped as it meandered through the desert terrain.

As Fate’s hands swung by her side, he again wondered if he should have set her free. Sure, she’d helped him fight the sphinxes and she’d shown considerable restraint with Deme, Ick and him—but what if she got hungry again? And she would. It was inevitable.

He observed her long silver hair as it cascaded over her shoulders, her slender physique and female curves hidden beneath Deme’s pitch cloak. Light on her feet and sleek with her walk, he marveled at her natural elegance. She was as graceful as a cat traversing thin ice. Was she simply created to be so statuesque or did she possess some inhuman charm he didn’t comprehend?

I wonder what she was like as a human?

The thought startled him. He’d never considered shades anything but monsters. Abominations of a dark magic gone terribly wrong. They hadn’t existed until they sold their souls to Malus. The day they all transformed, exchanging their humanity for an evil immortality, was a day Kane would never forget. The apocalypse. The last day of demon freedom. The day he and his father had flown from the mines. One of the last times he’d seen the loyal illumination of the Crystal Pyramid.

The screaming. So much panic.

Kane closed his eyes, trying to block the memory of the culling. His family, his friends—everyone. The demons hadn’t known death until then, their immortal bodies loyal, steadfast.

The humans morphed into the creatures of darkness in the blink of an eye, souls ripped from their chests. Thousands of glimmering blue spheres raced through the sky, summoned by the new Devil, Malus.

Then the terror began.

Thousands of newborn shades, slaughtering demons young and old, keeping only enough for slaves. Kane was but a child. Wings shackled and tossed into the mines, his mother denied his existence.

Now, before him—a shade. Mere feet from him, the offspring of those who’d destroyed his world.

He watched her tickle Ick under his chin and feed him a strip of meat she’d torn from the sphinx’s hide. How had he never noticed the human behind the monster before? The shades that had executed his family, friends and comrades had worn sick smiles of pleasure while they’d slain his loved ones.

Why is she so different?

As if sensing his eyes upon her, she glanced in his direction. Though he looked away quickly, he was certain he blushed. He continued walking with apprehension burdening his thoughts. Could he really be so wrong about the dark race? At present, she didn’t resemble a killer. She’d spent most of the journey with her eyes wide and head moving from left to right, then up and down. Like a child, she was enchanted by the new world around her, absorbing her surroundings like a sponge. She bombarded Kane with questions, most of which he responded to with a simple yes, no, or I don’t know.

He was just so unsure. How could he befriend the enemy?

We need her.

His father’s voice of reason echoed from within. The demons needed her—badly. With Malus out to obtain all six hidden pages of Devil’s Bible, Kane knew he had to find them first. Only, he couldn’t touch them, nor could any other demon or original race within Dark World. Only a shade could lay their hands upon the scrolls.

It was an oversight on his father’s part. The day he died, he enchanted the scrolls, cursing them so even if Malus found them, she couldn’t touch them. If she did, she’d age one thousand years in the blink of an eye. King Lucifer then spread the six pages of his Bible over Dark World, five among the races and one, to a secret location. Every region was assigned a protector for the scroll—a guardian.

The problem was, the curse worked for everyone—except shades. For whatever reason, whether it was spoken incorrectly or damnations of that nature didn’t apply to soulless beings, shades were immune to the hex.

Kane was the guardian of the first page—and he’d failed to protect it.

If only I’d been there. It’s all my fault.

It dawned on him that all the races were now in danger. True, one shade was able to break in and steal the demons’ scroll, but to what lengths would Malus go to retrieve the rest? His eyes focused again on the shade in his midst.

Maybe Malus would be willing to bargain—since I have something she wants.

But could he use this girl? This gentle soul forced to be a killer? He watched her as she visually embraced every element in sight. From the enormous pterodactyl bats that swooped overhead, to the inky, bobbing heads of the tar eels as they coasted with the current of the Nephthys River.

Upon arriving at a field of giant flowering fungi, Kane heard the shade gasp. Perched atop the mushroom caps, petals of deep orange and turquoise unfolded before her, releasing hundreds of bioluminescent orbs the size of Kane’s head. Fluffy and white, like tufts of feathers balled together, they drifted along the arid breeze to seed elsewhere. Balanced on Fate’s shoulder, Ick playfully batted the airborne spores.

Geysers fired in the distance, their steaming mineral waters shooting hundreds of feet in the air.

Deme groaned, her wounds glaring angrily.

“We need to find help,” Kane said sternly.

“Why?” Fate queried, swishing a hand at the puff balls of light and watching them bounce away on a gentle wind.

“Deme requires medicine…soon,”

Kane’s gaze swept over the landscape. Ahead, lingering in the shadows, was the wraith village, Cryptica.

A flicker of anxiety cast over him. wraiths weren’t particularly fond of outsiders—especially shades.

 

Shrouded in writhing black mist, the exterior of the wraith village resembled a turbulent storm cloud. With no apparent doorway, Kane marched up to the twenty foot high cyclone wall and hollered, “Hello! It is Kane, son of Lucifer! May we enter?”

He set Deme down onto her wobbly legs, keeping her steady with her left arm draped across his broad shoulders, her ruby skin alarmingly pale.

Fate stood a few feet back with Ick, uncertain as to how she’d be welcomed. So far, shades didn’t seem to be a favorite among the locals of Dark World. Granted, she’d only met two of them so far, but from the way they’d reacted when they first met her and the things they’d said along the trip, she knew her kind were very hated indeed.

My kind—what is my kind?

She hadn’t really paused to think about what exactly she was. Kane and Deme had called her a shade. But what did that mean exactly? Was she a vampire of some kind? She did crave the essence of other creatures, but it wasn’t blood, so vampire didn’t quite fit. A zombie, maybe? Her appearance would suggest some kind of fiendish transition had occurred within, but she didn’t desire brains or anything weird like that so she dismissed that one as well.

I just don’t know what I am. Lowering her eyes to the ground, she wondered if she’d ever really understand what she’d become—or if it could be reversed.

“Something’s happening,” Kane commented.

She moved closer and watched the dark funnel surrounding the wraith village part like the Red Sea. As though a set of misty drapes had been pushed aside, a passageway formed amidst the storm. Kane ducked his head as he went through the tunnel with Deme hobbling beside him. After a hesitant exhale, Fate followed.

Tempestuous winds swirled on either side of the trio. Fate swore she heard moaning and wailing emanating from within the gale. The hurricane seemed to breathe around her, threatening to collapse at any moment.

Ahead of her, Deme and Kane moved at a snail’s pace. Dim light radiated ahead. They were almost there. Almost free from the whirling storm of shadows. As they stepped out of the tunnel, the gap in which they’d just walked through sealed itself, closing off any exit.

The perfect trap, she thought with a shudder.

Like a tornado, the center was calm while the walls of dark fog twisted relentlessly. Several beings stood before them, hovering a foot or so above the ground. The creatures, who she assumed were the wraiths, seemed to wisp in and out of existence. Their hands and feet manifested briefly, then would disappear into a tendril of smoke.

Vaguely transparent and dressed in long, hooded cloaks, they hung silently in the air, their form dematerializing and then reappearing like magic, sometimes a few feet from where they’d originated.

The only things that didn’t waver out of existence were their cold, amber glares—and they were focused solely on her.

 

Kane could feel the tension in the air as if it had its own consciousness. Hatred wove its way past the two demons and landed directly on the shade.

“Friends, I assure you, the shade is harmless,” he said, attempting to diffuse the growing pressure.

One wraith, the tallest, moved forward, his eyes locked on Fate. “No shade is harmlessss…” he hissed, his hollow voice hovering above a whisper. “Why have you brought her to Cryptica?”

“Please, my…friend, she needs help,” Kane tilted his head towards Deme, who had fallen unconscious once more and lay slumped against his torso.

“Because you are Lucifer’s son, we will assist you.” The wraith pointed a vaporous finger at him. “But you must leave immediately after.”

“Of course,” Kane stammered, “I apologize for the burden.”

Two of the wraiths moved forward and gently took Deme from Kane’s grasp. With their unseen hands, they carried her into a tower made entirely of polished obsidian slabs.

Kane approached the tallest of the wraiths and asked, “Which of you is the guardian of your scroll? It is urgent that I speak with them.”

He hesitated a moment, uncertain.

“Thisss way, but the shade stays here,” the wraith rasped, shifting his path to the left and gliding towards an dwelling across the village.

Kane gave a fleeting glance to Fate. Her expression read volumes. With her arms wrapped around herself in a hug and eyes fastened on the ground, he worried about leaving her. But he’d seen her in action, she wasn’t frail by a long shot—she was lethal. He hoped she’d be able to stay out of trouble for a few moments. So far, she’d been a fairly agreeable companion, all things considering.

The wraith led him to a secluded edge of the village, paused in front of a hollowed out spherical shell made of rose quartz. As he ducked into the crystal shack, an overwhelming odor pervaded his nostrils.

Black incense?

There was only one being in the entire realm that burned the ancient bouquet of the undead.

 

Enigma

 

Perched upon her shoulder like some otherworldly parrot, Ick suddenly lifted up Fate’s long, white hair and stuffed his head between her locks and the nape of her neck.

“What are you doing?” she asked of the gargoyle, trying to pry him from his hiding spot.

After pulling him out, cursing as he scratched her arm in protest, she took a quick look around and realized what he was afraid of. The five remaining wraiths were moving towards her, encircling her, their arms outstretched like ravenous zombies.

“What…are you doing?” she repeated, only now it was directed at the phantom creatures surrounding her. Their blazing orange eyes were locked on her, seething with an ancient hate.

Oh no…Kane, where are you?

She didn’t want to fight. She didn’t want to kill. But the rising inferno swelling within her core was taking on a life of its own. The pulsating sensation was overwhelming. Like a spinning top, the dizzying power amplified with every beat. Ick jumped down, seeming to sense the imminent danger. He scurried to a far corner and shivered, shielding his eyes as Fate’s sight flooded black.

 

Cloaked from head to toe in mud-colored rags, the petite Oracle sat hunched before her collection of crystal ornaments. Carved into twelve unique runes, the stones spoke to her—and only her. Each with a song all their own, the mystical rocks vibrated and glowed as they answered the seer’s queries of the future.

As he made his way to the seat across from her, Kane’s horns bumped into the various gem mobiles dangling from ceiling. They clicked and clattered in protest, undulating long after he’d gone by.

Quietly seating himself, he awaited acknowledgment of his presence.

Engrossed in some sort of trance, her head hung, he wondered if he should return later. He turned to leave but was startled when suddenly she spoke, her voice gravelly and ancient.

“What do you desire, son of Lucifer?”

“I am searching for the pages of the Devil’s—my father’s—Bible. Are you not the guardian of the scroll?” he queried, wondering why the wraith sentinel had brought him to the Oracle when he’d asked for the scroll’s guardian.

“No, the wraith guardian is no longer with us,” she responded cryptically. “Why would you seek the pages when they will only bring conflict if brought together”

He bowed his head, paying reverence to the fallen wraith guardian, then answered, “We believe Malus has stolen our scroll…and the banshees’ as well. I seek to protect them. I have to stop her from gaining access to the Surface.”

The elderly crone nodded. “Yes, your mother must be stopped.”

Kane cringed. He despised his renowned affiliation to the nastiest Devil in Dark World history. Seeming to sense his unease, the Oracle moved on.

“The wraiths cannot help you,” she stated, a wisp of silver smoke drifting across her face from a nearby candle.

“Why?” Kane frowned.

A raspy sigh escaped her. “Their scroll has also been taken.”

His heart and soul fell at once, making him feel woozy with dread.

Malus has three of them now?

“No,” she responded to his thoughts and he shuddered. “Not Malus. There is another.”

“Another! What do you mean?” Kane leapt to his hooves, nearly smashing his head into the ceiling. “Someone else seeks the scrolls? Who?”

Unmoving, she admitted, “I know not. But…” she whispered, continuing with an eerie breath, “you must travel south. To Necrosia. The answers you seek are there.”

Necrosia. He shuddered.

Kane exhaled sharply and examined the old soothsayer a moment, tempted to believe she was lying.

Would she deceive me?

For this, her head snapped up and she shook her head no. The hooded cloak betrayed her but for an instant. Kane practically trembled when he glimpsed her face—or lack thereof. A void. A nothingness. Just an empty space where the windows to the soul were to reside.

A relative newcomer to Dark World, no one knew where she’d come from. She’d simply shown up over a century ago, her powers of prophecy unrivaled. Although she was revered throughout the land, Kane wondered what this haggard old soul was doing within the wraith dwelling. Wraiths didn’t mingle with other races and while he didn’t know from which race the prophetess stemmed, he was certain she was not a wraith. She was solid whereas wraiths were nearly translucent beings, ghostly and vaporous. Banshees were solid, but Amazonian in stature, and being a sexually provocative group, always naked.

And she was obviously no demon.

Reapers, the most dangerous race, dwelt deep within the Nether Caves. Always cowled, Kane had to admit he’d never actually seen a reaper uncloaked. He swallowed hard with the notion that the Oracle could be such a creature. Hidden beneath her dark hood could rest the face of a thousand horrors.

She could very well be a necromancer. Maybe that’s how she knows I should go there.

He nodded in silent decision. Though no one he knew, other than his late father, had ever laid eyes upon them, it made sense that she might be from the mystical tribe that lived far in the East, beyond the great wall dividing Dark World in half. Many myths swirled around the reclusive magic weavers: the ability to leave their bodies, possess animals, control the elements, and raise the dead. All bedtime stories his father would amuse him with, but based on cryptic truths. For now, he would entertain the notion that the ancient seer was a necromancer, although Kane wasn’t positive he enjoyed the idea he was in the presence of the mysterious race.

Her hunched spine stiffened and her gaze fell upon the doorway. She seemed to sense something.

“Foolish demon,” she said, her voice taut with annoyance. “Why have you brought her here?”

“Her?” His thoughts moved to Deme being treated by the village shamans.

“The shade!” she spat, brimming with anger.

“I apologize,” Kane stammered. “I found her…in the Crimson Desert…born alone.”

She paused momentarily, seemingly interested.

“Shades are not to be trusted,” she stated coldly.

He nodded, careful not to upset the old woman further. “Speaking of the shade.” He swallowed. “Is there any way to…cure her? Tame her?” An uninvited hope crept into his chest. Why did he care so much? He only wanted Fate tame to help him acquire the scrolls. Didn’t he?

He shook off the sensation, focusing on the task at hand.

The old psychic paused, the eerie silence sending icy fingers walking up Kane’s spine. “Yes,” she finally uttered, “but it is a near impossible feat.”

He frowned, a tightness forming in the pit of his stomach. “What is it?”

“You must find her soul and return it to her,” she stated in her raspy voice.

“Find her soul?” He had to admit he hadn’t considered that. He knew that damned souls descended into Dark World, but he had no idea where they wound up. Only that Malus owned them once they arrived and he was certain she wouldn’t be eager to part with even one. Especially Fate’s.

“Why you would want to help a shade is beyond me,” she said gruffly, then mumbled, “…can’t be trusted.”

He nodded, unable to argue. He was still struggling with his own decision to allow her to live. Something inside him, an instinct, told him Fate wasn’t entirely evil even though she was spawn from it. Besides, if he was going to seek out the pages of the Devil’s Bible on his own, he was going to need someone who could touch them since he could not.

The Oracle suddenly shifted her attention to the stones before her. “The runes wish to speak to you.” She gathered the stones into her hands, shook them once and then tossed the lot onto a marble table before her. They clattered and clacked as they rolled and skid to a stop in various positions.

“What do they say?” His eyes darted from stone to stone trying to decipher some secret code they might present. Anticipation crept over him like a spider ensnaring its next casualty.

The old fortune-teller held her gloved hands over the runes, summoning answers from the cryptic arrangement. After a few moments, she pulled her arms back and tucked her hands into her sleeves.

She sighed once as though contemplating whether she should respond. Eventually, she spoke, her voice low and saddened, “The runes do not show good things for you, I’m afraid. You will know more sadness…more loss.”

His heart picked up pace, anxiety setting in. “Who? Who will I lose?”

If she had eyes hidden behind that cloak, they were boring into his soul.

“Everyone you love.”

 

A whirlwind of dark power surged around her, pulsating and writhing. The energy owned her, soothed her, bent her to its will. Lust beat down the doors where her soul once resided and demanded to be fed. Fate eyed a wraith before her, his fear palpable, and dropped her gaze to his chest.

I don’t want to do this! Stop!

The need. The hunger. The desire to devour was winning. She brought her hand to her face and removed her mask, growling as the ache resonated within.

I can’t, her conscience pleaded. I can’t kill. I don’t want to kill!

The moment before she lunged, she curled her hands into fists and fell to the ground, releasing an anguished scream as she fought her body’s compulsions.

“What’s going on?” Kane’s deep voice boomed.

“Get her out of here!” the wraiths’ united voices hissed like a hundred snakes. Suddenly they were rushing towards her, their translucent bodies bending with the wind. Fate felt her body being lifted into the air by unseen hands—and hurled into the tornado barrier.

 

Reckoning

 

His jaw hung open, staring in distress at the wild, writhing barricade before him. The wraiths hadn’t sent her over the obstruction, but straight into its thrashing clutches. Trapped in stasis, she hung suspended in a pool of grey and black waters. Fate was now a prisoner of the sentient tempest. The storm phantoms howled in delight, grasping her with their shadowy fingers and pulling her in several directions, playfully fighting over her. Kane watched as Fate was tossed about like a lifeless corpse.

“Please,” Kane called out, desperation tarnishing his powerful voice. “Let her go!”

In his peripheral, he saw Deme emerge from the healing hut, a look of concern shrouding her eyes. While he was thankful she appeared to be better, he couldn’t help but notice a smugness rise behind her expression when she pieced together the scene before her.

Calm down, Kane, he thought, turning his attention back to Fate. She’ll be okay.

A pair of tiny hands wrapped themselves around his ankles. Looking down, Kane saw little Ick hugging him above his right hoof, terror blemishing his polished green eyes. Deme, having limped slowly to his side, crossed her arms over her chest.

“So,” she started with an icy tone, “the shade finally got what she deserved.”

Kane winced. He hadn’t known Deme to be so merciless, but then his opinion on shades hadn’t been much different—until recently.

 

Twisted into unnatural shapes, Fate was all but ripped limb from limb. Her screams unheard as the multitude of hands assaulted her body. And not just her body, but her mind as well. A deep sorrow burrowed through her core, gnawing at the emptiness within. These phantom beings had the power to invade her thoughts, her fears and deepest sadness.

I just want to go home, she thought, a diamond teardrop escaped her colorless eyes and shimmered down her cheek.

Confusion consumed her. Where was home? Was it that beautiful place above with the sky of Caribbean blue? That place where she recalled warm, human arms wrapping around her? Or was it the home belonging to the voice? The velvety female voice that lovingly begged and pleaded with her every moment since her arrival in the dark world—was that the road home?

The encasing winds morphed from black to murky shades of grey. Maniacal laughter rebounded on all sides, merging into whispers, then back to sinister giggles. It was a Hell within a Hell. She teetered on madness, trapped within the steely arms of gloom.

 

“Let her go,” Kane beseeched the leader of the wraiths, his eerie, angular face leering from within the cowl. “Please, we’ll leave immediately.”

Vaporous and exuding an aura of unkindness, his semi-transparent body hovering several feet above the ground, the cloaked creature simply laughed. Kane’s blood simmered and he instinctively reached for his sword, the onyx blade singing a metallic tune as it slid free from its covering.

“I said let her go!” he snarled, the bridge of his nose creased, intersecting with the fury of his lowered brow.

The ghostly menace laughed harder, his amber eyes aglow with malicious amusement. Kane gripped his sword with both hands and unleashed his rage, swinging at the wraith. The blade sliced through the torso of the apparition, leaving only a ripple of disturbance like a pebble skipping over murky waters. Kane staggered, then regained his balance and took another swing. He knew how to kill the wraith and what he was doing was futile, yet his fury prevented logic.

While the wraith found the demon’s actions amusing, he’d apparently deemed the attack irritating enough to counter. Ancient words spilled from his lips, stirring a dust Devil of sand and wind around him. Crackles of electricity sparked and a heavy droning filled the air whilst a supernatural energy built. The wraith raised his arms, pulling the elements closer, summoning them. A white sphere of illumination danced from one palm to another, growing and intensifying.

Kane held his ground, drawing from the depths of his own weakened magic. He ignited his entire body into an inferno of blue flames, to both protect and return fire.

I only have one shot at this, he worried. Without the light of the Crystal Pyramid or ample supply of bloodstone, his powers could last but a few moments.

The wraith sneered, readying to discharge his elemental weapon. Angry sparks flew from his hands, reaching for Kane’s chest. Kane’s blazing aura reacted by forming an impenetrable shield, rebounding the streams of lightning and sending them firing about the village. A bonfire of cerulean flame then burst forth from Kane’s body and roared towards the wraith, striking him in the shoulder. The wraith shrieked in anger and pain, recoiling from the blast.

Weakness suddenly smothered Kane. He fought to stay standing as his once loyal fire faded to embers. He looked to Fate, writhing in the arms of agony and silently cursed his father for disabling the pyramid. Without its powers to nourish him, he was useless to her.

The wraith recovered, powering up for the next shot—as did five other wraiths now encircling the defenseless demon.

“Kane!” Deme screamed. “Run!”

This is it. Kane bowed his head. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can find Seren wandering the afterlife—and join her.

 

“Daughter,” the voice pleaded with her, “come home to me…come home.”

Flashes of the Surface mingled with the fathoms of Dark World. A collision of worlds, infused with bitterness and rage, sadness and regret. What was real? Was she still alive and all of this but a bad dream? Or was this Hell and she was truly dead?

“There is no death, only transition,” a familiar voice whispered, the blade of a serrated dagger glinted by the light of a full moon.

Chanting.

Pain.

Then, sinking.

Fate sobbed, her throat aching with unleashed emotions as she fought against the evil masses molesting her undead body. There was no escape—no one to save her. Or was there? The demon. The dark one called Kane. He had shown pity on her, had he not? By removing her mask and protecting her from the sphinxes, didn’t he show he cared?

As though her revelations cleared the airs around her, the storm calmed and clarity parted the dark clouds like a veil. She peered through the makeshift window and saw Kane fighting one of the wraiths. Black magic tore through the village, first aimed at Kane, then the wraith.

The malevolent hands relaxed their grip and she moved closer to the scene. Her hands pressed against what felt like a solid pane of glass, she watched as the demon fought with heroic valor, then fell to his knees, left to the mercy of the phantoms. Wielding the elements within the palms of their ghostly hands, she watched helplessly as the large demon faced his death.

“Kane,” she whispered, her breath caught in her throat.

 

So much of the fight had left him. Sorrow was the only emotion he’d owned for so long. With the loss of his wife, his father—and even his mother—he didn’t know if he held the desire to continue.

Ever. Kane flinched. She’ll be without a father unless I keep fighting.

Knelt before the encirclement of shrouded beings, he considered his options. He could simply cower before them, accept his unfortunate destiny and hope to move on to the next world—or he could fight.

He chose the latter.

A surge of power rippled through him. Not knowing where this newfound energy had manifested as he was out of bloodstone and the pyramid still lay dormant, he embraced it. Kane stood, driving his sword into the earth. A network of red sparks frayed from the handle, each probing the ground with purpose, searching for its prey.

The wraiths paused, glancing at one another with uncertainty. Even Kane watched with awe as the energy took on a life of its own. Kane’s blue eyes suddenly swirled with streaks of scarlet and his aura swam with mists of ebony.

“Ego sum legio!” his Baritone voice boomed, sending a cascade of crimson lightning at the quartet of wraiths surrounding him. Penetrating each of the phantoms in the chest, they were propelled backwards and encased within cages of red electricity.

Fate was immediately thrust from the clutches of the living tornado, landing at Kane’s feet with a heavy thud. Conscious, but obviously shaken, he helped her to standing. The urge to embrace her, to console her, was overwhelming—and it frightened him.

In the midst of her liberation, an arched pathway emerged from within the tempest.

“Leave,” the entire community of wraiths hissed, pointing to the exit, “but know this, son of Lucifer…this isn’t finished.”

 

The Demon City

 

 

“What happened back there?” Deme asked, hobbling alongside Kane as they continued their journey to the demon city. “I’ve never seen that kind of magic.”

Honestly, he didn’t know. For the last hour, he’d been replaying the instance over and over in his mind, trying to decipher just how he’d accomplished that feat. Without the obvious sources of magic to infuse him, he couldn’t fathom where this new power had come from.

“I don’t know,” he responded sincerely. “It just…happened.”

“Well, it certainly worked.” She shrugged.

Although he nodded in agreement, a cloud of unease drifted over him. He’d made a new enemy today and being the son of the king, he’d infected his people with the possibility of a plague that could last generations to come. Even though they were not great in numbers, the wraiths were not a foe to take lightly.

Fate plodded ever silently behind them. He’d glanced back several times along the way, noting her slumped shoulders and lowered chin. He yearned to speak with her, to question her about her worries, but with Deme there and already suspicious of his mixed feelings for the shade, he resisted.

“There they are,” Deme whispered suddenly, reverence coloring her voice.

He looked up, breathing a sigh of relief and feeling his shoulders relax for the first time in days as he recognized the telltale landmarks of home. Two large obsidian rocks stood stoic against the barren landscape, monoliths designed to guide demons to a secret sanctuary.

With Deme limping by his side, he led Fate toward the hidden kingdom, wondering if it was a wise decision. The city had been kept secret from the shades for almost a century. Certainly, a shade had somehow discovered the demons’ lair, invaded it, and stolen the scroll, but Kane was intentionally inviting one in.

The elders are not going to be pleased.

With a furrowed brow he looked back, Fate cuddled Ick in her arms like a baby. His stomach twisted into a knot. Would his people be able to see beyond what she was?

Kane had seen the good in her. He hoped they could too.

 

Ick nuzzled the slope of Fate’s jaw and gave her an encouraging lick, but nothing erased the emotions threatening to consume her already fractured soul. Confusion and misery pulled her in opposing directions like a tug of war. Where did she belong? Being imprisoned within the sentient storm barricading the wraith city, she was forced to face her greatest fears and sorrows—and didn’t know what to do with them.

If only she could remember what happened. How she got here. Kane mentioned she’d been damned to this place, but by whom? And why would they do such a thing?

Drawn from her thoughts by Kane’s gentle voice, an entirely new fear emerged. “We’re here…the demon city.” He stood between two colossal stones and then turned, grinning shyly at Fate, “Welcome to my home,” he said as he waved his free arm over the empty setting.

“It’s…lovely.” Her eyes panned the barren landscape, frowning as she searched for evidence of his proclamation.

He chuckled and proceeded to pound his right hoof against the ground three times, resonating with a metallic echo upon each strike.

“Aperio,” he uttered and immediately a deep grinding thundered beneath their feet. The red sands of the desert sifted downward as a large, metal ramp lowered itself before them. Once disguised as simply solid ground, it soon unveiled itself as the entrance to an underground world.

As she took slow steps into the belly of an even deeper netherworld, Fate felt the stirrings of apprehension.

“Child…my child…come home,” the maternal voice whispered to her thoughts.

An ache tore through her chest as she gazed longingly at the apocalyptic setting. Almost as strong as the hunger, the call of her dark mother pleaded for her to find her way home.

“Fate?” Kane’s deep voice called to her, a guarded concern laced within.

She pushed the dark yearning away and followed him into the pit, the large metal door rising like a drawbridge behind her. She hoped she wouldn’t regret trusting in the demon.

Ick trembled in her arms.

“It’s okay, Ick,” she soothed, stroking the downy fur atop his head.

Lit torches adorned either side of the rocky tunnel. An eerie flicker danced along the walls, wavering with every movement and exhaled breath. They moved through the passageway in silence, descending further into the depths of the earth with each step. As it wound around several corners, following a maze-like path, Fate noticed a light emerging in the distance.

A thick, steel door lay ahead with a small, rectangular window allowing a single beam of light to slice through the dimness. Baritone voices emanated from the other side, echoing throughout the cavern.

Fate suddenly paused.

“Kane?” she whispered. He stopped and turned to face her, his hulking body perilously close to hers. His warmth slid over her, caressed her. She swallowed, then asked, “Are they going to hurt me?”

“No, Fate, I won’t let them.”

“How can you be sure?”

He answered humbly, “Because…I’m their leader.”

She averted her eyes from his. She hadn’t realized he was of such importance. Of course, she’d heard Deme refer to him as sire, but Fate hadn’t paid much attention to the allusion at the time. He seemed so…young, not much older than herself. She had no idea how demons aged, but he certainly didn’t appear old enough to be a ruler.

Now at the steel gateway, Kane pounded on it, hard with his fist. Fate narrowed the space between them, fearful of what lie beyond the heavy door.

Again, she found herself staring at his back. The low amber lights cast soft shadows across his physique, she found herself fixated on his strength and the way his muscles flexed beneath his dark skin.

She resisted reaching out and touching his long blue hair as it swung casually at his waistline. Her eyes wandered over his every curve, examining his poise, his allure—she closed her eyes and shook her head.

What are you thinking?

He was a demon. She, a shade. The two races had a turbulent past. A dark, embedded hatred for one another. He probably didn’t even see her as an equal, let alone a love interest.

Deme groaned, falling against his shoulder. Stabilizing her, he hammered the door harder, shouting, “Open up, it’s Kane.”

The metal hinges groaned in protest as the door was slowly pulled open. Two heavily armed demons stood guard on either side of the entrance. Fate trailed closely behind Kane, knowing that the moment they saw her, there was going to be trouble.

“Sire,” a demon guard exclaimed. “What happened?”

“The three of us were attacked by sphinxes,” Kane answered with veiled apprehension, delivering Deme into the guard’s waiting arms.

“Three?” the guard repeated with obvious confusion.

Kane stepped wide to the left and exposed Fate standing nervously behind him. Instantly, the guard’s upper lip curled back, rendering his pointed fangs. He raised his staff, a sharp blade adorning the tip, and lowered into a fighting stance.

“Shade!” he snarled, spittle spraying from his black lips.

Immediately alerted, the other guard brandished his weapon, his face wound tight with hatred. Kane elevated his hands, attempting to calm the two warriors.

“It’s okay, she’s with me.”

Fate lowered her eyes in submission, holding tight to poor, little Ick who was endeavoring to burrow into her chest.

“But sire…I don’t understand!” one guard sputtered, bewilderment filling his green eyes.

A crowd of demons had begun to amass, each gasping as they laid eyes upon their sworn enemy.

Kane glanced calmly between the two guards, then quietly commanded, “Please take Deme to Shaman Goratus.”

They reluctantly complied and carefully led the wounded tracker away, both eyeing Fate with quiet contempt.

“Kane,” an elderly male demon moved out of the gathering crowd and asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

Fate’s eyes darted amongst the angry and confused faces of the mob. It took all her willpower not to turn and run back into the tunnels from which they came.

Kane raised his hands and stated, “My people, please, calm yourselves.”

A respective hush blanketed the crowd. Kane swung his head in Fate’s direction, his sapphire gaze falling upon her. After casting a look of remorse, he shifted his attention to the throng of demons before him.

His Baritone voice boomed, echoing throughout the cavern with his announcement, “I bring you…the Devil’s heir!”

 

Prisoner

 

Marble pillars swirling with steely veins stood stoic in every corner of the great entrance. Though they’d obviously seen a great deal of wear, hairline fractures running throughout their polished torsos, the ivory columns loomed like colossal soldiers.

A dozen arched doorways led from the grand hall, each enlightened with metallic torches. Every hallway boasted long, red runners hemmed with golden thread. Twelve ten-foot statues guarded the exits, each bearing a different weapon or symbol. Beautiful and intricate in detail, Fate gazed at the solid sentinels, then realized something odd.

The statues—they’re of humans.

Overhead, an elaborately painted ceiling, gilded with gold and silver trim, depicted a war scenario where humans had triumphed over forces of evil. Fate had to take a second look at the artwork. She thought it strange that demons would have anything remotely human within their midst.

With the eyes of a hundred demons fastened on her, each blazing with evident hatred, Fate lowered her head and stayed close to Kane as he walked confidently into the center of the room.

Whispers and gasps reverberated off the walls, some even snickered and jeered.

“Friends, please, if you will listen to me,” Kane began, vying for attention over the discontented mumblings. “I understand you’re upset, but please, this is no ordinary shade.”

A large black demon stepped forward, his nostrils flaring and fists clenched tight. “How do you know for sure? How do you know it isn’t another of Malus’s traps?”

Kane sighed deeply, visibly pooling his thoughts before explaining. “I know because she was born right before my eyes—alone.”

A united gasp embraced the room. Several demons brought their hands to their mouth in surprise.

Fate fought the urge to question Kane regarding his statement. What did that mean? Why was she so special for having been born alone? Why was she the Devil’s heir—and did she want to be?

The crowd of demons, their sight fixated on her, shared a perplexed expression. Disgust and fascination.

The Devil? Fate contemplated. Is that who’s been calling to me? Is that where I belong?

Kane turned to her, apprehension nestled behind his soft, blue eyes. Gently taking her by the arm, he led her through the horde of restless demons and down a hall to the right.

Away from the strain of a hundred glares, she forced herself to breathe again. While she should have been more concerned for her safety, she was currently too enraptured by the way Kane’s large, black hand felt wrapped around the back of her arm. Ripples of heat extended from him. Every molecule he touched exploded with light. Like bubbles fluttering over her undead skin. A pleasant shiver traversed the small of her back. She longed to turn to him and...

“I apologize,” he started quietly, stirring her back to reality. “My people have been through much sorrow because of the shades.”

As though he suddenly realized he was touching her, he pulled his hand away as if burned. A dull pain wound around her heart. She was simply fooling herself.

“I understand,” she responded, keeping her eyes on the floor.

Red doors lined the hallway, each decorated with ornate golden handles. After passing numerous doors, they finally paused at one on the right.

“Here is your room,” Kane grasped the knob and opened the door for her. “I…hope it’s to your liking.”

Upon entering, Fate couldn’t help but smile. A theme of burgundy and gold played about the room. An enormous four-poster bed dominated the space, crimson sheers draped around it like long flowing ribbons, matching ties binding them to four vertical columns. A large gilded mirror lay perched atop an antique mahogany dresser. Burrowed in the far corner yawned a large fireplace set in onyx marble, just begging to be fed with fire and basked before.

“It’s lovely!” Fate exclaimed, overwhelmed with the luxury.

A rosy hue invaded the dark demon’s cheeks and he immediately turned to leave, but paused with his hand on the doorknob. Without facing her, his eyes trained on the floor, he stated timidly, “If you need anything, just ask me…I’m in the room across the hall.”

“Thank you,” she replied quietly, hoping for his gaze to meet her own as he slowly closed the door.

Left to her thoughts, Fate sauntered to the bed and slid her body over the width of the mattress. The supple burgundy comforter swaddled her in its silken embrace and for the first time since she’d arrived in Dark World, she closed her eyes and dreamt of home.

 

Kane knocked on the door, turned the knob and entered. He knew all were welcome in this particular home—that being the humble dwelling of the demon enchanter, Elder Ozen. Jars of herbs, elixirs and rare magical creature bits filled every nook and cranny of the small chamber. Unnamable odors, courtesy of potions bubbling within glass flasks, wafted from the next room.

An eerie play of shadows and candlelight cast undulating images upon the fractured walls. A quick sweep of the cracking structure and slouching ceilings left Kane wondering how much longer the palace would hold up. They’d never intended on living in an underground kingdom, but after the shades took over, it was the only place they could survive.

“Would you like some fungus tea, your highness?” Elder Ozen’s ancient voice called from the adjoining room, somehow knowing it was Kane who’d entered.

“Yes, please,” Kane replied, cringing at the reference to royalty.

The old demon shuffled in from the next room, two silver mugs fashioned from steel grasped within his blue-black hands. He handed Kane his tea and smiled kindly at the young prince, his skin crinkling around his eyes and mouth like cracks in dry sand.

The elder groaned, taking a seat across from Kane. He brought his cup to his mouth, pursed his old lips and blew a line of breath across the top. Tendrils of steam wafted from the rim and, for a moment, Kane was certain he’d seen the vapor whirl and spin as though dancing.

Kane observed the old man with fondness. The elderly demon had taken him in after his father was killed. While the enchanter provided him with a good home, knowledge and kindness, the hole that remained in his heart was unfathomable.

His mother was another story.

In many ways, I’m just an orphan, he thought forlornly.

“How can you be certain she’s the true heir?” Elder Ozen queried, stirring Kane from his bitter thoughts.

Word travels fast, Kane mused, thinking how he’d only announced Fate’s existence less than an hour before.

Kane exhaled and stared up at the ceiling of his mentor’s home and slowly shook his head. “She was born alone and her arrival mirrors what the scroll has foretold. The sacrificial ceremony on the Surface calls for three, but if the ritual has been performed on only one human, the shade’s power is immense once they reach Dark World.”

“There have been others born alone,” the old demon pointed out.

Nodding, Kane had heard of this and wondered why the others were unfit to become the Queen’s vessel. Was Fate truly unique? Or was she just another killer spawn from an evil ritual?

The ancient demon sipped his tea, his dark, wrinkled skin folding at the temples, then inquired, “Why didn’t you kill her? If she is the Devil’s successor, she poses a great risk to our entire existence.”

He closed his eyes and hoped his conflicted feelings for the shade were not transparent. “I…tried. I just…couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t?” Elder Ozen arched a curious brow.

“I saw something in her…something good.”

Seated across from the young prince, the old demon drew his robes tighter around him like a chill had crept into the room. After eyeing Kane seriously, he responded, “Shades are born soulless, damned to this world by the Devil’s disciples. They lose all that was good in them when they descend.”

Kane knew the lore well. “All I know is that she’s different, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

 

Fate awoke with Ick snuggled deep within the crook of her neck. Sad for only a moment that she could not recall her dreams, she giggled when Ick relinquished a tiny snore and twitched as if chasing a reluctant meal.

She glanced around her new abode, and while the room oozed with lavishness, she couldn’t help but notice the cracking walls and ceiling.

After stretching and swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she noticed a pile of clothing folded neatly at the end of the mattress. Perplexed, she stood and inspected the outfit. Ick, now wide awake and fully rejuvenated, jumped up and down on the bed while Fate removed Deme’s cloak and donned a black suede skirt and top. She paused to gaze at her reflection in a full-length, gold-trimmed mirror leaning against the far wall. Inspecting the new wardrobe, she wondered who’d slipped into the room while she was sleeping to leave it for her.

The top fit like a second skin while the short sarong hugged her hips perfectly. She couldn’t imagine how they had clothes that would fit her so flawlessly considering how much bigger the demons were compared to her.

As she ran her hands over the skirt, the smoothness of the material slick beneath her palms, a flash of recognition moved through her. A memory stepped out from the shadows and into a faint light. She remembered trying on clothes, a skirt in particular. The setting was so…different. A warm bedroom, rich with color. Daylight streaming through glass.

The sun.

A pang resonated in her heart. How she missed the cascade of heat offered to her by earth’s closest star.

She took a step closer to the mirror and scanned her reflection from top to bottom. Long silver hair cascaded over her shoulders, a soft curl bobbing at the ends. Icy, glowing eyes stared back at her as though she were a stranger.

Still sporting the black mask, she pulled it off to further inspect herself. Upon parting her full, black lips and revealing a set of sharp fangs set amongst rows of perfect pearl teeth, Fate caressed her pale cheek with the back of her hand and whispered, “What have I become?”

Suddenly squealing, Ick scampered off the far side of the bed and hid.

“What’s wrong with you?” Fate asked, startled.

“Do my clothes fit you alright?” A velvety voice inquired from behind her.

As Fate spun around, her eyes settled on the loveliest demon she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen many, but she was certain that this one would pass for the most beautiful.

And her scent!

Upon realizing she’d removed the mask and was vulnerable to the intoxicating aroma of the demon, she quickly slapped it over her nose and lips. Though her mouth still watered, she was immediately relieved of the intense ache building in her chest.

Drawn again to her beauty, Fate couldn’t imagine a more enchanting creature. Surrounded by feathery white lashes, her eyes shone with the same blue brilliance as Kane’s, but her skin was fair as fresh fallen snow. Pure ivory horns wrapped elegantly around her head, starting at her temples, then tapered into an elegant swirl just above her pointed ears. Her hair, the same luminous hue as Fate’s, draped like a shawl to the backs of her knees, thin golden strands woven into a few dangling braids.

Around the same height as Fate, she was puzzled as to why this particular demon was so petite compared to the others she’d seen.

“Yes…thank you,” Fate said, finding her voice.

“You’re welcome.” She walked so gracefully, she nearly floated into the room, her long, creamy robes trailing behind her. “I’m Ever,” she announced, extending a pale hand adorned with sharp, white talons.

“Ever,” Fate began, shaking her heated hand. “That’s a lovely name.”

“Thank you. My father tells me you are unlike other shades,” she started, a flicker of doubt moving behind her eyes.

“Oh? And who is your father?”

“Prince Kane,” Ever offered bluntly.

As she took a moment to absorb this information, Fate tried to determine how someone as young-looking as Kane could have a daughter that appeared to be the same age as herself. And—prince?

“How could he be your father? He looks so…young?”

Ever replied with a soft giggle, “Young? Why, he’s over three hundred years old!”

Her eyes widened. “Three hundred! How old do demons live?”

“We used to be immortal, but when the Crystal Pyramid went dark, we began to show our true age.”

Fate suddenly found herself feeling dizzy. The hunger pierced her innards, gnawing and begging for sustenance.

“Are you okay?” Ever asked, taking a step toward the shade.

With Ever standing so close, her delicious scent taunted her. “Please, don’t get too close…I can’t…always control myself,” she warned.

Ever nodded and backed away, a wave of fear skimming the ocean of her eyes. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“Ick?” The little gargoyle popped up from the far side of the bed, tilting his head at Fate.

“Oh! How sweet!” Ever gushed, her regal composure all but forgotten as she hurried toward the tiny beast and scooped him up into her arms.

Fate positioned herself at the far side of the room, the furthest from Ever’s intoxicating scent. She watched as the demon princess lifted the gargoyle into her arms and proceeded to cuddle him.

“What is he?” Ever asked, her eyes sparkling.

“What do you mean?” Fate began, confused. “Haven’t you ever seen a gargoyle?”

“No,” she replied, tickling Ick under his chin and listening to him giggle. “I haven’t been outside since I was a newborn.”

“That’s so sad,” Fate replied, staring at the floor. “Why?”

Ever paused, issuing a sad smile. “To protect me—from my grandmother.”

 

Revelation

 

Deep in thought, Kane wandered the labyrinthine corridors of the palace. He felt so powerless. He couldn’t just leave Malus to reign over Dark World with her genocidal tendencies. As far as Kane knew, all shades were under her command. It was only a matter of time before she descended upon them.

His thoughts then drifted back to the Oracle’s statement. She’d said there was another stealing the scrolls. But who?

It would have to be another shade…wouldn’t it? Or someone that had help from a shade.

Only shades could handle the pages of the Devil’s Bible, it was his father’s greatest error—or was it?

What if someone had found another way?

Regardless, he knew Malus had at least one. That had been confirmed by his spies, the demons she still kept as slaves. And he had to get it back, but how was he going to fight an army of shades with a village of demons? His gaze fell upon his broken palace. The ivory walls veined with cracks and arched ceilings buckling in on themselves, the product of sustaining heavy damage.

How much longer will it last?

He would have to move his people to safety—soon.

But where?

The topside of Dark World was a harsh environment for even the most hardened beasts. A literal gift from the Surface, the palace had housed them in their time of need. Had it not fallen through the chasm so many eons ago, Kane wondered what their fate might have been. In some ways, he felt cowardly, hiding from his mother’s tyrannical hold over Dark World, yet it was the only way to protect what remained of his race.

Protect my race, that’s what I should be doing.

Yet he’d brought a shade into their hidden lair. Was she really so different? Wouldn’t her hunger get the better of her or was it possible that Fate maintained a sliver of her human spirit when all the others were nothing but soulless killers?

Maybe that is what’s so special about the ceremony with one rather than three.

As he passed a female demon in the hallway, Kane nodded in greeting. While she returned the gesture, he couldn’t help but notice the hint of uncertainty lurking behind her eyes. It saddened him that his people did not have faith in him.

I am not my father…unfortunately.

The king was a fearless leader. A bold demon, he led his people with passion—and they respected him for it.

It wasn’t that Kane didn’t want to make his father proud and take hold of the reigns, he just wasn’t sure he was the demon for the job. How could he lead a weakened army into battle against unfathomable odds?

Malus had the crown. She was the Devil of Dark World. With an army of undead soldiers outnumbering his own ten to one, how was he going to reclaim his birthright?

And how can I kill my own mother?

 

“Why don’t you have shackles on your wings?” Fate’s eyes lingered on Ever’s back as she coddled Ick.

“I was born after the great escape,” Ever said, stroking Ick under his chin. “Almost everyone here was once a slave. Malus’s slaves. The flying restraints were placed on them then.”

Ick purred loudly and nuzzled his cheek against the princess’s hand, then flipped onto his back, exposing his soft, white stomach and awaited a tummy rub.

“Why can’t they just take the shackles off?”

“Only Malus can remove them. They have an enchantment placed upon them.”

“This Malus sounds awful.” A flicker of recognition lit within Fate as the name ‘Malus’ tumbled out of her mouth.

“My daughter…come home.” The voice was so intoxicating. So alluring.

The demon girl nodded, her eyes filled with sadness. “She’s responsible for the slaughter of thousands. It was—a culling.”

Fate shivered. “But the demons seem so strong.”

Ever set Ick onto the bed. He curled up onto the pillow, his white, furry wings wrapped around his tiny body, and began snoring immediately.

With a wistful sigh, Ever explained, “When my grandfather decided to seal the great chasm leading to the Surface, he knew it would weaken the demons, but he must not have known it would make them mortal. When Malus discovered his error, she sent her army of killers out to find and destroy all demons. Including my mother.”

“Killers?” Fate swallowed.

Ever’s sapphire eyes hardened. “Shades.”

 

“Do you know how the shade entered?” Kane questioned a guard on watch the evening the scroll went missing.

“No sir.” The guard’s jade eyes darted about the room where the sacred page once resided. “One moment it was there, the next…gone.”

His brows knitted together, Kane probed further. “If you didn’t see anyone, how do you know it was a shade?” He knew the answer, of course, being that only shades were capable of touching the scrolls, but he was growing irritated with the guard’s incompetence.

The guard swallowed and glanced around, avoiding the prince’s stare.

“I…don’t,” the guard finally admitted, a line of sweat protruding above his dark temple. “I just assumed because…”

“Never assume.” Kane cut him off and exhaled sharply, rubbing his forehead with his palm.

How did he get in? Or out?

He gazed about the solid chamber, pausing on the empty glass container in the center. Once perched upon a stone pedestal, encased by a translucent cube of glass, the scroll had lain safe for almost a century.

With only one entrance and four sentries stationed around the scroll at all times, it seemed impossible that anyone, even a shade, could infiltrate the room undetected.

The guard then surrendered, his voice low, “I saw…a black mist.”

“A black mist?” Kane repeated, narrowing his eyes at the demon sentinel.

He nodded eagerly. “Yes, it seemed to…whisk in and out, fast, like the wind.”

“Why didn’t you say this before?”

Why was he not receiving straight answers? Were his people so afraid to tell him the truth?

The guard simply lowered his eyes to the floor and shook his head in obvious shame.

With a final scan of the room, no explanation evident, Kane stormed away. The theft of the scroll was a devastating blow to the demons, and he now had to decide on his next move.

He knew what he had to do. Question was—would Fate help him bring down her own kind?

 

The ivory princess led Fate and Ick through a labyrinth of carpeted hallways, an endless, meandering red river flowing in all directions. Fate wondered how the demon girl could find her way to the dining room night after night, but concluded that after spending over one hundred years in the submerged castle, one would come to know the place like the back of their hand.

Finally, after passing dozens of entryways, the princess paused before a set of French doors. She grasped the handles of gold and pushed them open to reveal a large, lavish room. A long rectangular table draped with a cream cloth held a bevy of elegant china dishware, several candelabras and gleaming silverware. A dozen sleigh back chairs upholstered in ruby velvet, sat stoic at either side of the table, just waiting for someone to set themselves upon them.

An enormous crystal chandelier dangled overhead with hundreds of clear quartz teardrops affixed to it. Like a diamond crying tears of glitter, the fixture hung in perfect stasis casting a soft glow over the room.

Fate was in awe of the palace, she wondered how such a structure could have come to be underground.

“Please, have a seat,” Ever offered graciously. It seemed to please her to have a guest to dote on, even if it was a shade. “My father should be here shortly,” she added, seating herself.

Choosing a chair across from Ever, Ick bounced between four different seats before he decided on one beside the princess. Fate settled in, absorbing the atmosphere.

She was certain she hadn’t been anywhere this fancy when she was human, she would have remembered seeing something like this, or at least recalled the sensation of being mesmerized by a mere room.

As if on cue, five demon servants moved swiftly into the room, four carrying plates of food and one with a clear, glass pitcher containing some kind of green beverage. One of the servants moved cautiously to Fate’s end of the table, dropped the plate before her and exited the room hastily.

Friendly, Fate thought sarcastically.

Kane then entered the room and sat beside his daughter. Fate’s chest fluttered and a knot gathered in her stomach. Glancing at him, his eyes focused firmly on his plate and his shoulders stiff, she again wondered if she should stay at the palace. He didn’t seem too comfortable in her presence. Occasionally, his gaze would lift as though to look at her, but would immediately drop it when he came too close to meeting her eyes.

Fate lowered her own eyes.

He hates me.

Fate pushed the fried blue mushroom medley around with her fork, eyeing the lump of heated flesh lying next to them with disgust. She apparently had no use for carnivorous activities. While it was a familiar activity, her new body simply wasn’t interested.

Still wearing the black mask, she was thankful that no one seemed to notice her lack of appetite. It had been two days since she’d consumed the sphinx’s soul and she wondered how long it would take before she felt that unquenchable need. One day? Two? How long before her self-control diminished and she became some kind of fiendish monster?

Both Kane and Fate avoided eye contact. She was certain that if their auras were visible, they’d be dodging one another like two incompatible gases.

Ever seemed blissfully unaware of the discomfort within the dining room. She was content to nibble at her food and giggle as she watched Ick devour his meal, burp profusely, and then lick the plate clean with his tiny, black tongue.

Taking a deep breath, Fate distracted herself by getting lost in the beauty of the space again. While awe-inspiring, the dining room appeared to be in as much disrepair as the rest of the palace. There were fantastic woolen tapestries draped along several of the walls, but apparently in attempts to conceal various fractures.

In an effort to begin a conversation, Fate asked, “So, how many of you live here?”

Ever looked over at her father, expecting him to answer, but he maintained his aloof behavior. “Um,” Ever began, shooting a glare at her father. “Just over five thousand demons, I think.”

“Why are there so many human references here?” Fate blurted suddenly, surprising even herself.

The demon princess smiled like she knew a secret. “I think I’ll let my father explain that one, he has an obsession with human history,” she said as she stood, retrieved Ick and exited the dining room.

Left alone, the air stiffened, rebelling against any flow. Fate frowned, wondering if Kane was upset with her, or just simply couldn’t stand her. She watched him finish eating, and after several minutes of silence, she decided she would head back to her room.

Upon her standing, he suddenly spoke.

“This palace was once on the Surface.” His voice was taut. “It belonged to an ancient civilization. Human. Do you remember much of human history?” his voice warmed with the question.

She bit her lip, the memories seemed to be there, but they hovered just out of reach. A sliver of annoyance rose inside of her. Why was her amnesia so darned selective? She could remember the most mundane of things: the color of grass, that she hated pickles and what a car was, but a lot of the knowledge she yearned to access simply wouldn’t surface.

She reluctantly shook her head.

Again, awkward silence loomed.

“Would you like to see my favorite room?” he asked suddenly, meeting her eyes.

A strange quiver ran over her as she allowed her gaze to settle on his. His burning sapphire stare, so full of torment, moved straight through her soulless body.

Beneath the black mask, a smile graced her black lips. “Yes—I would like that.”

 

Kane led Fate down a darkened corridor illuminated by candlelit sconces. He didn’t look back to ensure she was still following him, he could feel her presence well enough. The energy she exuded was formidable. It was as though she radiated pure black magic. Her aura extended from her body, reaching for him like the gentle fingers of a wanton lover.

He clenched his hands into fists.

What the hell is wrong with you, Kane? She’s a shade!

Did female shades have some power of seduction that he was unaware of? Granted, he’d never spent any amount of time with a shade, especially female, but he’d never heard of such a thing.

An uncomfortable silence possessed the space between them. He didn’t want to appear rude, but he honestly didn’t know what to say to her.

Just talk to her. Ask her something.

He searched his mind for something intelligible to query her about. Something about her life on the Surface.

“So—Fate,” he began, his tongue tripping over her name. He thought it ironic he’d named her yet his nerves prevented him from speaking it properly. “Do you remember anything about the Surface?”

“Very little,” she replied, her voice somewhat quiet. “I remember some very beautiful things—and some that are not.”

He stopped walking and spun around. “If I may ask, what were the…not so beautiful things?”

Kane’s heart picked up pace when he realized how close they were. His eyes slid over the gentle contour of her pale jaw line as it narrowed towards her petite chin. He eyed the mask, wishing he could see her lips as she spoke.

She lowered her glowing eyes and he was sure he saw them dim with her response. “I remember that I was—murdered. I can’t remember who—or why—but I can still feel the pain,” she replied, placing a hand over the center of her chest.

He felt a pull on his heart. How could anyone harm this gentle soul? Though he hadn’t known her as a human, he surmised she must have been amazing. If she only retained but a fragment of her former self now, as a complete spirit, she must have been exceptional.

“And—the beautiful?” he asked quietly, fighting the urge to take her into his arms and console her.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

“The stars.”

 

I wonder where he’s taking me.

Fate followed closely behind the large demon. She was so confused by him. One moment, he behaved like she’s the last person he’d ever want to spend time with, then the next, he’s offering to show her around the palace. And his favorite room, no less.

He led her down a dark hallway, towards a set of double doors. It reminded her of a theatre. Again, she found it profoundly annoying that she could remember these kinds of tidbits from living on the Surface—but not her name. It was like her soul had shattered when she arrived in Dark World, only tiny shards of her former existence remaining, and slowly, she was putting herself back together, but without all the pieces of the puzzle.

The doors creaked as he opened them, the metal hinges groaning in unison. Even with her infrared sight, it was difficult to make sense of the shadows in the darkness. She could distinguish several rows of seats and what appeared to be a booth at the back of the room.

A domed ceiling bowed overhead, like she was inside a snow globe with the glass painted black.

“What is this?” she asked, her gaze panning the length of the strange room.

“You’ll see—have a seat,” Kane replied warmly.

His hooves made a trotting sound as he walked quickly towards the booth. A few clicking sounds later, the entire room came to life.

As Fate gaped at the ceiling, she stifled a sob.

“It’s—a planetarium,” she whispered, feeling Kane ease into the seat next to her.

Breathless, her new sight experienced the awe she’d only known with human eyes. The Milky Way hung overhead, its multitude of stars twinkling and sparkling only for her. A suspended galaxy for an audience of one.

“Do you…like it?” Kane asked, his voice uncertain.

She couldn’t speak. It was beauty unlike anything she’d seen with these eyes. Newborn eyes.

The dome shifted slowly, mimicking the movements of the celestial procession, only faster than it would be on the Surface. Stars winked, planets spun, and comets soared. Even the turquoise swags of Northern Lights draped themselves over a distant horizon.

It was breathtaking. Overwhelming.

“How?” she whispered, fearful the splendor would vanish if she spoke aloud.

“The—previous owners—built it,” he stated quietly.

Fate could almost feel him smiling at her in the dark. A thrill moved quickly up her spine. He was so close. So warm. It was almost like a date at the movies.

The movies. A date.

An icy trickle moved through her veins. A dark memory tried to interrupt her bliss, but she forced it away with an annoyed scowl. She didn’t want anything to ruin this moment. Not the universe spread out before her like a shimmering blanket nor the excitement she felt being so close to Kane.

She stole a glance at him through the darkness, his cerulean eyes glowing bright. Again she wondered how he felt about her. Was he just entertaining a guest? Was this something he showed everyone new to the palace? Or was she—special?

He cleared his voice nervously, as though he sensed her eyes on him.

“It…doesn’t show the sunrise, unfortunately,” he said, sounding genuinely disappointed. “What’s it like?”

“The sunrise?” Fate searched the depths of her memories, probing for the correct image. “I can’t remember everything, but what I do remember is…beautiful. All colors of the rainbow suspended in one corner of the sky, though mostly shades of amber and pink. It changes constantly, but ever so subtly. And just when you think that nothing could be more breathtaking, a golden sphere rises, overtaking all the colors and turning the entire sky baby blue.”

She prided herself on recalling so much, then realized Kane was staring at her. Turning to him, she couldn’t name the expression on his face. Awe?

The air seemed to stop around them. Only inches away from one another, she felt her head start spinning. His hand was so close to hers.

Their eyes locked on one another, her next breath stuck in her chest. She wondered if there was no mask imprisoning her lips, would he be kissing her by now?

He suddenly looked away, almost shaken as he refocused on the make-shift galaxy above. Disappointed, she followed suit, allowing the discomfited silence to distance them once again.

Fate settled into her seat and looked up, forcing herself to take in every inch of the wonder overhead before it was turned off and she’d have to return to the world without a sky.

Her eyes darted to and fro as they struggled to absorb every constellation and every galactic wonder.

Then she saw it.

The Phoenix.

A dam broke inside. A flood of memories came rushing back all at once. Fragments of her soul gravitated to one another, mending her fractured mind.

Her undead heart skipped a beat and tears burned in the corners of her eyes.

She remembered.

I am Scarlet.

 

Fire

 

Fate had been exceptionally quiet since the star room. Frankly, he wasn’t sure if she’d enjoyed it or not. One moment, she seemed completely entranced by it, and the next, withdrawn.

“Are you all right?” he asked as they walked down the hall.

Her arms were wrapped around her like she was cold. Though she nodded in reply, she didn’t offer anything further.

Paranoia crept in uninvited and he wondered if she was offended by the awkward moment they’d endured. What was he thinking? Didn’t he have more control than that? He felt like slapping himself to awaken from whatever enchantment she had over him. Was what he was feeling real? Or just some kind of illusion? A bewitchment?

His brows pulled together. Frustration building within, he decided to leave her to her thoughts. It was obvious something was upsetting her, though he couldn’t imagine what.

A new fear rose quickly into his throat.

What if she’s getting hungry again? What if she’s unable to control it?

It was then he decided Ever shouldn’t be alone with the shade anymore. It just wasn’t safe. He couldn’t lose another family member to a shade—especially his only daughter.

He suddenly felt very foolish. How could he have so recklessly allowed this known predator into their hidden lair? While he was certain she wasn’t an agent of the Queen, attempting to gain access to their secrets and report back, he wasn’t convinced she was trustworthy yet either.

No matter what he’d seen with her recent behavior, she was still a killer. She was still more monster than human. He couldn’t let himself forget that—no matter how he felt about her.

Upon reaching her door, he turned to wish her good night. Her eyes still locked on the floor, she simply turned, entered her room and closed the door.

Kane stood in stunned silence for a moment, uncertain what to do next. He noticed two demon guards standing down the hall and motioned for them to come.

“Stay here, see that Ever does not enter,” he ordered, turning to leave, then added, “And—if the shade leaves, one of you follow her and the other inform me at once.”

They nodded, parked their staffs at their side and thrust their chests out like proud peacocks.

As he entered into the main hall, Kane decided he should call an emergency meeting with the Council of Elders.

“Dex,” he called to a young demon courier. “Please relay a message to each member of the council. I wish to call a meeting for tomorrow morning.”

The demon boy nodded and trotted off to deliver the communication.

He needed advice. He needed to know what to do with the shade, but even more pressing was what to do about the missing page of the Devil’s Bible.

“If Malus finds the other three,” he muttered under his breath, “she’ll not only own Dark World—but the Surface as well.”

 

Scarlet.

Flashes of her former existence flickered like a broken television screen. Memories were thrown at her with no rhyme or reason. A cracked Kaleidoscope of colors, images and dreams.

I know my name. At least, what it was, anyways.

Huddled at the head of the bed, Ick snuggling beside her, she tried to remember the girl she was. A rogue tear fell from between her lashes. Warm as it slid over the apple of her cheek, she raised her hand and wiped it away. As she caught the teardrop upon her finger, she watched how it glistened like a liquid diamond. It existed there for a brief moment then slid down her index finger and over her palm.

The line of wetness remained, leaving a near invisible mark. It was in that moment that she noticed something odd.

As she held both palms open, she exclaimed, “I have no lines!”

Smooth as marble and completely devoid of any marks, she gaped at the anomaly. No finger prints. No lifeline. Nothing.

Ick climbed gently into her lap and licked her fingers. A concerned look on his little face, he nudged her hand with the top of his head. Tiny little horns had begun to sprout in between his pointed ears.

She dropped her hands with a sniff.

Fate. What a stupid thing to name me considering I don’t even have one.

Fate ran her hand over Ick’s downy, white back, instantly sending him into a state of purring bliss.

“Well, buddy, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

As she pulled the silken covers over herself, she tried to sort the recollections bombarding her. A face she knew as her mother. A man who called himself her father. A brother. A friend. These were people who knew her. Cared for her. People on the Surface.

Though the memories were jumbled and disjointed, she knew one thing for certain—she wanted to go home. To the Surface.

 

 

With his palms resting on the large obsidian table, Kane stood before the counsel and collected his thoughts. This was the moment he’d been dreading. The moment where he had to decide the fate of his people…and his world.

Would his father agree with his decisions? Was he strong enough to rule more than Legion, but Dark World itself? He wasn’t certain he believed he was their rightful leader, but he knew he had to try.

“I called this meeting of Elders to discuss the future of not only our city…but of Dark World,” Kane stated, panning the room and locking eyes with every one of the twelve ancient demons seated before him.

Several nodded, including Elder Ozen, but many others sat with concern gathering behind their wise eyes. Elder Syphon glared at Kane from across the room. A deep scar ran over his right eye, the pupil permanently dilated in a wide snake-like stare. His talons clacked as he tapped his fingers atop the circular table, lips twisted into a bemused curl.

“As you well know, our scroll has been stolen,” Kane continued, ignoring Syphon’s patronizing gaze. “You should know that on my recent journey, I discovered that the wraiths’ scroll is also missing…as well as the banshees’.”

Several gasps emanated throughout the room, some faces bewildered, some angry.

“What are we going to do?” Elder Midas’s brow lowered and he stroked his long blue beard anxiously. “If Malus finds all of the scrolls…”

Kane nodded, but politely interjected. “I know, but there’s more.” He paused before his peers, wary of their reaction to his next statement. “I’ve spoken to the Oracle. She believes that someone else seeks the scrolls.”

The room turned to chaos. Everyone bombarded him with questions all at once.

Everyone—except Syphon.

 

“I know you must be starving,” Ever prodded Fate, extending what appeared to be a covered cage. “The guards only gave me a few minutes to visit with you, so please, take this.”

“Guards?” Fate replied, confused as to why she suddenly, and unknowingly, had demons outside her door. Was it to keep others from hurting her? Or her from hurting others?

Warily, she accepted the cage from Ever. “What is it?” she asked, though she was certain she wouldn’t like the answer.

Ever’s blue eyes shifted away. “It’s…just a bird.”

While Ever was correct, she was indeed starving, Fate wasn’t sure she could tolerate the idea of devouring another soul. What happened with the sphinx was so spontaneous, sudden and unintended. She didn’t think she could intentionally yank the essence out of another being and feel right about it.

“Where did you get it?” Fate wondered, knowing Ever had never been outside the underground palace.

The princess folded her arms over her chest, her indigo eyes flaring. “Does it matter? I mean, you need nourishment, don’t you? I don’t want you losing control and accidentally eating me or one of my family members.”

She’d said it with a teasing smile, but it never quite reached her eyes. Fate understood. She was a danger to the demon city. A burden.

She sighed as she pulled the white cover free from the cage. Gilded bars imprisoned the most beautiful little bird she’d ever seen. A burst of copper and orange feathers tipped with gold covered his little body. His head was adorned with a spray of bronze feathers that branched out like a crown. Only a few inches high, the tiny bird tilted its head to the side, inspecting its new surroundings. His beady black eyes watched Fate closely, then his little beak opened and he began to sing a haunting melody—and that’s when he started on fire.

 

Myths

 

“What do you propose we do?” Syphon began, leaning back onto his chair and folding his hands behind his horned head. His skin was black like Kane’s, but dull, as if he were forged from lackluster coal rather than shining obsidian.

Kane took a deep breath and tried to ignore the irritation building amidst Syphon’s smug attitude.

“I suggest we gather the remaining scrolls and keep them here for safety.” Kane watched the Elders reactions closely. While some seemed open to the idea, others appeared skeptical. Syphon just chuckled.

His eyes brimming with contempt, Syphon seized his moment to humiliate the Prince. “Despite the obvious fact that demons can’t touch the scrolls, how do you think you can keep the others safe when our own was stolen so easily?”

Kane grit his teeth, knowing Syphon was trying to bait him into an argument. It wasn’t very long ago that Syphon had challenged Kane to a Victus, a duel for the crown. Thankfully, the council sided against Syphon, vetoing the battle. Secretly, however, Kane still harbored the desire to beat the Elder senseless.

After clearing his throat, Kane calmly replied, “I plan on keeping them hidden, until we can find all of the pages and then…” He took a breath, then declared, “I’ll destroy them.”

“What?” roared Syphon, bringing his fist down hard onto the table. “No! That’s an outrage!”

“You can’t be serious,” Elder Ozen sputtered, his face paling.

“If they don’t exist, Malus can never open the chasm and turn the human race into shades,” Kane stated. “We can’t allow her access to the Surface. Don’t you see? The way it is now, we have a chance to defeat her.”

“How? I don’t understand,” Elder Midas asked.

Kane’s gaze panned over the room of worried expressions, then spoke quietly, “We have Malus’s heir, without her, Malus cannot transfer her soul from her dying body. Without Fate, Malus will die.”

 

Flames rose from the tiny bird, filling the cage with tendrils of fire, each licking the bars as though probing for a way out. The more he sang his melodious song, the further the wisps extended.

“What…is this?” Fate watched the creature with fascination.

“He’s a phoenix,” Ever responded, a smile playing on her ivory lips.

“Phoenix,” Fate whispered the word. “How? I mean, if you can’t leave the palace, how did you get him?”

“We have a sanctuary of animals down here. It’s at the far end of the palace,” Ever explained. “The shades have consumed so many of the creatures in Dark World, my father decided to protect some of the rarest.”

Intrigued, Fate asked, “What kind of rare creatures?”

She tapped each of her fingers as she counted. “Well, the phoenix for one, there’s about a dozen of them—less one.” She waved her hand over the cage. “A couple of unicorns, three griffins, one very old dragon, and hundreds of pixies. I tried to get you a few of those, but I couldn’t catch them,” Ever frowned.

“Interesting,” Fate mused, thinking back to the faded memories of her childhood. “You have mythical creatures that the Surface writes about.”

“Oh, they aren’t mythical at all, in fact, they came from the Surface.”

“What? How?”

Ever fiddled with the ruffles on her wine-colored sleeves as she spoke. “A great earthquake shook the entire earth, long ago. It opened up a huge chasm and swallowed a piece of the Surface. It was an island called Atlantis. Thousands of humans were brought down here, along with their collection of exotic creatures, hence, our collection of exotic creatures. Apparently these animals were a rarity on the Surface as well.”

“Wow! Atlantis!” Fate nearly fell over with the revelation. “I thought that place was just a myth.”

Ever smiled. “Nope, in fact, we’re inside an Atlantean palace right now.”

Fate threw her a confused look. “How? It’s completely underground.”

The princess nodded. “When the land fell through the fissure, it landed on a sand swamp. Quicksand. The whole thing sunk, burying itself in the quagmire. My father discovered it on a hunt about a hundred years ago, it gave the demons a perfect hiding place from the shades—and Malus.” She winced as she spoke her grandmother’s name.

“That’s amazing!” Fate absorbed the lore. “Atlantis,” she said breathily, closing her eyes, her obsession with mythology surfacing.

Ever’s eyes lit suddenly. “Oh, I almost forgot about the Night Mare. Another creature in our collection.”

“Night Mare?”

“Yes, a horse that…well, you’ll have to see him for yourself, if he’ll let you, he’s pretty grumpy. So…I gather you don’t want to eat the bird then?” the princess stated, eyeing the cage lingering in Fate’s hands.

Fate’s heart tore in two with the idea of harming the little bird. “There has to be another way! Is there nothing else I can eat?”

A thoughtful look consumed Ever’s face a moment and she tapped her bottom lip with the talon on her index finger.

“Actually, there might be,” she expressed. “Let’s go see Shaman Goretus.”

Fate nodded enthusiastically. There had to be some other way to satiate her need for souls. There just had to be. She simply couldn’t endure the notion of destroying a life every few days.

The princess glided towards the door. “It’s going to be tricky getting you out of here, just stay quiet and let me do the talking, okay?”

Willing to do anything to spare the baby phoenix, Fate set the cage beside her bed and trailed behind Ever. As they reached the door, however, Ick awoke from his catnap and upon seeing the girls abandoning him, let out an ear-piercing squawk.

“Shhh!” Both Ever and Fate turned abruptly, fingers pressed against their lips.

Ick’s pushed-in face puckered disdainfully. Scanning the room with narrowed eyes, his sight landed on the gilded cage beside the bed. Fangs protruding and a sly smile sliding across his mouth, he promptly marched to the cage and began poking at the phoenix through the bars with his knife-like claws. The little bird panicked, peeping and molting fiery feathers which landed on the floor of his cage like a miniature bonfire, then promptly exploded into ash.

“Ick!” Fate hissed. “Stop it! I’ll be right back.”

The little gargoyle flopped onto the bed, crossing his furry, white arms over his chest.

“Be good,” Fate mouthed, then followed the princess out the door.

 

Nemesis

 

“So, this…shade,” Syphon spat the word with disdain. “She’s agreed to help us?”

Kane sighed, his large chest expanding and retracting slowly. All eyes were on him, awaiting his answer.

Finally, he responded, “Not yet,”

Syphon scoffed loudly. “Do you see?” he began, standing and waving an accusatory hand in Kane’s direction. “Do you see? This is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you. All plan and no action.”

Kane narrowed his eyes, panning the room, the Elders suddenly refusing to meet his gaze. A heat swelled in his chest, a fury growing without his permission.

Have they been talking about me behind my back?

“He’s not capable of being our leader,” Syphon continued, moving about the room. “He’s but a boy.”

Kane’s fists clenched so hard he was certain he drew blood from his palms. His teeth ground together so tight, it made his head hurt. Syphon gave Kane a sideways glance, his lips curling into a smirk, but he didn’t ceasefire.

“Legion needs a real leader. A leader who will take charge and lead an army to defeat Malus!” he shouted, pounding his fist against the stone table, startling several of the ancients.

Kane looked to Elder Ozen, his weary expression read volumes.

Does Ozen agree? Kane’s heart fell. Maybe they’re right. Maybe I should hand the crown over to Syphon.

 

“Where is the Shaman’s quarters?” Fate inquired as the two girls snuck down the hall. Thankfully the guards watching Fate’s room were both so smitten with Ever, she’d convinced them she’d be safe and that she and Fate would return in a few minutes. Frankly, she could’ve told them to eat live slugs and they would have gladly done it just to make her pay them notice.

The hallway went on forever. Every so often there would be an intersection offering them a choice of either left or right, but Ever continued down the same hall.

This place is huge! Fate thought, her eyes scanning every twist and turn of the endless labyrinth.

As she followed the princess faithfully down the corridor, Fate examined the artwork hung on the walls. Most depicted war scenes or hunting expeditions where savages slaughtered buffalo or deer. Again, it was always humans in the pictures, never demons.

Atlantis, Fate surmised. This must have been the artwork in Atlantis.

But why had they never changed it? Didn’t the demons despise the humans? They were the precursor to shades, were they not?

“This way,” Ever called back.

They approached a door on the right, except for a dehydrated head of what appeared to be a goat dangling from the doorknob, it was identical to the dozens of doors they’d just past.

Fate swallowed. She desperately wanted a cure for her fiendish disease, but something about this visit had her stomach churning with dissention. It’s not that she didn’t trust Ever, quite the contrary, but without Kane’s protective presence nearby, she wasn’t sure how she’d be received.

“Are you sure about this? What if…the Shaman doesn’t want to see me? Shades don’t seem be a local favorite.” Fate grimaced and endeavored to still the apprehension within her voice.

“Don’t worry,” Ever linked her arm with Fate’s, a warm smile gracing her pale lips. “I’m right here with you.”

Fate grinned beneath her mask, an odd sensation rising within. She’d found something she didn’t even realize she’d lost. Something she’d desperately needed—a friend.

 

 

Kane took a deep breath. How was he going to handle this? He didn’t want to be leader any more than they wanted him to be. But he had an obligation. A duty to honor his father’s wishes. He’d left Kane in charge.

Even though he was just a child when his father died, it was his wish that Kane succeed him upon his death. He had a responsibility, no matter how much he didn’t like it—or want it.

“I believe we should have a vote,” Syphon offered, his boisterous voice owning the room. Lit only by the incessant flickering of candlelight, shadows played within every corner of the room, leaving Kane to feel as though there were more eyes upon him than just the Elders’.

“And, what would we be voting on, Syphon?” Elder Ozen inquired, a twinge of skepticism lingering in his voice.

“Why…who should lead the demons, of course,” Syphon stated, a sly smirk grazing his lips.

“We have a leader, Syphon, I see no need for a vote,” Elder Ozen countered.

Many nodded, but to Kane’s dismay, several wore expressions of hesitancy.

“Please, counsel, I ask you to have faith in me,” Kane began. “I may not be…my father, but I still love my people and desire the same as you...our freedom and our right to rule Dark World once again. Please, just give me that chance, I need your trust in me, especially now.” Upon lowering his eyes, he hoped they would find it in their hearts to see through Syphon’s plot to disgrace him.

Most of the counsel members raised their faces to him, their eyes lit with hope. For a moment, Kane seemed to hold newfound respect from them—then Syphon’s poisonous tongue lashed from across the room.

“That is where you are right…you are nothing like your father. If there’s one thing I’m certain of, he’d be ashamed to call you son.”

 

The room was bathed in aromas unfamiliar to Fate’s sense of smell. Long, black swags draped the walls, perilously close to the hundreds of candles flickering within the room. Reminiscent of the goat’s head hanging from the knob outside the door, numerous decapitated animal heads, shriveled and shrunken like large raisins, decorated the tiny space.

A shuffling sound to the right startled Fate and she spun towards it. Stifling a gasp, Fate examined an old demon standing just a few feet from her. A dark-green cloak trailed over his hooves, his hands met at his waist, clutching a lengthy, gnarled wooden cane. Long strands of grey hair draped his shoulders whilst a snowy beard cascaded over his chest. Wrinkles of wisdom graced every area of his face, but particularly the corners of his mouth. Warmth radiated from him. A calm and glorious aura of what Fate could only describe as—peace.

At first glance, she surmised his eyes were closed as there was no telltale glow of infrared stare. On closer inspection, however, she realized he was blind, the radiant burn behind his eyes extinguished. The empty spaces left dark like fallen stars.

“Ah, I wondered when I’d get to meet you, shade,” the old demon spoke with lightheartedness coloring his voice. “And hello to you too, princess,” he added, nodding in her direction.

“Good day, Shaman Goretus,” Ever answered warmly, crossing the room and embracing him. “How have you been?”

“Very well,” he chuckled.

“This is Fate.” Ever swept an arm in the shade’s direction, her extensive crimson sleeves trailing loyally.

Fate stood in the center of room, sensing the Shaman’s sightless eyes examining her. His face, though warm, studied her with an intensity that left her feeling like a specimen.

Wizened hands clutching his gnarly cane, he proceeded to shamble across the room. Closer and closer. The light beating of the cane tapped in rhythm with his shuffle as he moved nearer.

Ever stayed by the door, her eyes flickered with a blend of curiosity and fascination. Fate wondered what the princess was thinking, then sure she knew, for she was likely thinking the same thing.

Was this demon witchdoctor going to be able to find another way for her to survive? To prevent her from sucking the essence out of innocent bodies? Was there another way? Or was she just kidding herself? Maybe, she was nothing more than a killer. A monster with just enough control to keep the hunger at bay—temporarily.

 

Helpless. Hopeless. His efforts to introduce his plan, failed. If only the council had more faith in him. If only he had more faith in himself.

If only Syphon had kept his mouth shut, Kane fumed as he made his way back to his room. Defeated and worn, he passed through the halls of the demon city, anxious to rest his weary head.

Did his father really think he could do this? He’d never been the type to take charge. To lead. Though he wasn’t a follower either, Kane honestly never knew where he fit in. A loner.

His childhood had been confusing at best. With his father tending to the needs of an entire underground nation and his mother scheming to overtake it, he was left to fend for himself.

It wasn’t until he met Seren that his life changed. Took on meaning.

The demon world was on its knees. Tumultuous and war-torn, Kane’s mother having had ushered in her new world order. A world owned and controlled by her—and shades. Dark World had once been home to many communities of demons. Cities. Villages. But once her poisonous reign began, she obliterated all but two separate populations of demons. Her horde of shades crawled across Dark World like venomous spiders. Silent. Deadly. Striking down those in charge who swore allegiance to the dead King Lucifer, her disciples crippled the nations, leaving the citizens but two options, serve her—or die.

Wings immobilized, powers diminished to worthlessness, the demons were humbled before a tyrannical Queen. His own mother.

She even shackled her son. Even sent him into the mines to excavate bloodstone. Whipped and beaten like a common slave, Kane endured years of imprisonment at the bidding of his own flesh and blood. The one who gave him life was now the one who threatened to take it away.

The years in the mines were agonizing. Not only because of the labor, but because of the horrors the shades inflicted upon their prisoners.

As he stood before his room, his hands pressed against the door, steadying himself, Kane tried to force the dark memories far away. But to disregard them, to erase them, would be like forgetting Seren.

She had been his only light down there in the darkness of the mines. She’d saved him in more ways than one.

 

“Fate,” Shaman Goretus spoke, his voice ancient and gravelly. “What an interesting name.”

“My father named her,” Ever offered proudly.

“Interesting,” he said, his gentle voice wrapping around Fate like an embrace. Though mysterious, she found him calming. His aura serene.

Now only inches away, he raised his right hand, hovering it over her. His palm open, he swept the open air surrounding her. Sensing her. He moved in a slow circle around Fate, never touching her, but felt the space as though absorbing her essence through his palm.

Fate stood still, her breath tight in her lungs. She watched Ever’s fascinated gaze locked on the old demon. The ivory princess, noticing Fate’s stare smiled softly. Reassuringly.

Finally, the Shaman stopped. He placed his hands back onto his cane and simply stood before her.

Her heart thrummed against her chest like a hundred hummingbirds trying to break free. Did he find what he was looking for? Was there another way for her to live? Did she no longer have to kill?

It was Ever who finally broke the silence. “Well, is there anything else she can…eat?”

The Shaman raised his hand to his beard and stroked it thoughtfully. His brow furled, he pondered. For just a moment, Fate wanted to shake the answer from him. Impatience nagging.

Slowly, he nodded. “Yes,” he replied, his voice hesitant. “It is as I suspected.”

“What is it?” Ever inquired, her voice bordering on impatience.

“Bloodstone,” he stated, his voice taut. Strained.

Ever’s dove-like skin paled as she whispered, “Bloodstone.”

 

Bloodstone

It was the scarlet flecks that glinted from within obsidian. They used to glisten like smatterings of blood clinging to the dark walls of the mines. Crimson jewels embedded in black glass.

Hundreds of years ago, the obsidian mines were plentiful. Deep and overflowing, the veins of bloodstone throbbed.

Centuries of mass consumption, greed, and overuse, however, finally forced the demons to face the consequences. Just when the demons needed the stone most, when the Crystal Pyramid fell dark, the bloodstone became scarce. A precious rarity.

The mines in which they’d come to rely, in the center of Dark World, dried up like a well. The wealth of the demons, their inheritance, was dwindling.

What little they had, they salvaged and distributed in sparse rations, for they soon discovered—they could not live without it. Devoid the glow of the Crystal Pyramid, they were not only stripped of their powers, but their immortality as well. No immortality meant death. Any demon over two hundred years withered and died within months without the constant sustenance of bloodstone.

 

“Bloodstone.” The word spilled from the ivory lips of the princess. Her pallor waning from that of an orchid petal to one of ashen bone. “How much will she need?” she posed to the elderly demon rooted before Fate.

His ancient lungs expanded and released a wheezy sigh. “Too much, I’m afraid.” He shook his head, mouth downturned. “More than we can spare.”

Whatever hope that had gathered in Fate’s heart dissipated into tiny fragments of despair. What was she going to do? Bow to the beast she was destined to become?

“Is there nothing else I can do? Nothing else that will work?” Fate asked of the old demon, her hands wringing in angst. If she couldn’t use the bloodstone, she’d have to drain the life of innocent souls. She didn’t know how long she could do that before she lost the good in her. That essence that kept her from drowning in evil.

His wizened lips pursed a moment and he lingered with a thought. A breath caught in his throat and he reached for Fate. Upon relinquishing her hands to the blind elder, he patted them gently.

“Give me a few days, I have an idea.”

 

The image of Seren haunted his memories. Her long, black hair feathering behind her. Tiger-orange eyes emblazed with an internal fire. She was unique. Rare. Like a precious gem, she could not be replaced.

His hands pressed against the door, Kane closed his eyes and tried to drink in the memory of her. Tried to hold onto it. The pain in his heart—his soul—was so much more than he thought he could bear. He knew he’d existed before he met her, but he had not truly lived until he loved her. How was he to go on without her? Living as a shell of his former self. Even though his heart beat, he was not alive.

Until he met Fate.

Why did her presence create such a stir in him? He was supposed to hate shades. Despise them.

With so much uncertainty crowding his life, how did she break through the darkness of his world? The despair?

He spun around, gazing longingly at her door.

What would happen if I told her how I felt? What would she say?

A mere few feet stood between him and his destiny. Was that what she was? A future? Or was she the end of it all?

Kane brought his large hands up and rubbed his face.

You’re losing your mind. She’s not even the same race. Not to mention, she’s the enemy.

It was in that moment that a sickening realization struck him. He’d left two guards posted outside her door—and they were nowhere in sight. Lunging forward, he flung her door open without knocking. His eyes darted about the room, scanning for her presence. The only living creatures in the room were Ick and a caged phoenix.

She’s not here!

Dread owned him. He raced from the room and down the hallway, his hooves pounding raucously against the carpeted marble floor. Just one door down from his own room, he grasped the handle and pushed forcefully.

A gasp caught in his throat. “Ever!”

 

“Well, now what?” Fate asked, her arms wrapped around herself. What if the old shaman couldn’t find a cure? Would the demons banish her from their city? She already seemed one step shy of being exiled. It wouldn’t take much for them to decide to rid themselves of her.

“Would you like to see the garden?” Ever chirped, her eyes shining like blue stars.

Fate felt the rising of curiosity and excitement. Within her mind’s eye, the image of a vast expanse laden with flowers, trees, and lush greenery tickled her senses. The scent of roses and soft prickling of grass between her toes teased and beckoned her. Memories of the Surface. Memories she thought her lost soul had taken with it.

“Garden?” Fate marveled. “How the heck does an underground city manage to have a garden?”

With a twinkle in her eyes, Ever linked arms with Fate and replied, “You’ll see.”

 

Panic. Kane searched the hallways of the old palace, his heart fibrillating. Where was everyone? There were thousands of demons living within the city, yet he couldn’t find anyone to ask as to Ever’s whereabouts.

I shall see to it that those guards are severely punished! He fumed. He’d given them a direct order, one in which they blatantly disobeyed. They would never have disregarded my father’s orders.

An ache throbbed in the center of his chest. They didn’t respect him. Didn’t care he was their leader. Maybe he didn’t care either. So many times he’d considered just leaving. Running away from the responsibility. The pressure. The memories. But it was all for Ever. To protect her. She would rule the city one day—as long as Malus never knew of her existence.

 

The Garden

Gossamer mist lingered over a cobbled walkway leading into the garden. Velvety crimson petals clung to a vine of jade as it wove around a wrought iron archway. A forest of varying plants hugged either side of the narrow path while long, feathery fronds swayed like a mossy drape, courtesy of an ancient willow. The ceiling, capped by an artfully painted dome, stretched for what seemed like miles above them.

The central source of light, brilliant and warm, hung from the arched ceiling as though imitating a silvery moon. Flooding the entirety of the garden with a pearly hue, it sparkled and flickered like an alabaster disco ball.

Trees of all shapes and sizes filled every available space, some blossoming with a myriad of flowers while others were pregnant with ripened fruit. While Fate recognized many of the trees from the Surface, a vast majority were unlike any she’d ever seen. Pink, blue, and even lavender leaves decorated the branches of many. Some even shifted colors like a prism.

Mood trees, Fate mused.

Humidity clung to the atmosphere, filling Fate’s lungs with thick, warm air, mingled with the fragrance of a thousand flowers.

Speechless, she absorbed the ambiance of the room. Breathed it in. Even on the Surface, she was certain her eyes had never beheld such beauty. Every corner, every inch of it was spellbinding. The more her eyes drank in, the more her heart swelled.

“Oh, Ever,” Fate whispered with a reverent hush. Ever smiled in return. A knowing smile. As though she agreed completely.

The garden had no end to its riches. In a distant corner sat an enormous gilded cage, not unlike the cage Ever had delivered the infant phoenix in. Tiny fireballs scored the air within the domed enclosure. Baby phoenixes zipped from left to right, then up and down. Dozens of flames shot about the pen, pinging off the bars, then repelling in another direction. But it was the large orange figure perched elegantly in the corner that caught her attention.

A matron phoenix nested upon a stone pedestal. She was simply statuesque. Regal. Tucked safely beneath her were two tiny amber eggs, glowing like embers. Her lengthy red and gold tail feathers fanned over the entirety of the cradle, protecting her unborn babies with a wall of fire. Ink-black eyes bore into Fate’s, her elegant head cocked to one side. Inspecting her.

“That’s Cinder,” Ever spoke quietly, stationed to Fate’s left side.

They watched in awe. Neither moving, just observing the blazing beast as tendrils of flame rippled over her body like streams of lava.

The sound of trickling water stole Fate’s attention from the phoenix. To her right was a make-shift waterfall, cascading into a pond made of grey marble.

Moving to its side, she gazed into the dark blue waters. Beyond the undulating reflection of herself, Fate could see a multitude of rainbow fish gliding beneath the surface. Their skin glittered with an iridescent hue. Prismatic against the quiet light bathing them from above.

“That light.” Fate raised her face to the soft orb. “What is it? It looks like…a crystal of some kind.”

Nodding, Ever lifted her ivory profile. “Yes, it’s a special kind of crystal. Piezoelectric. It’s what powers our kingdom.”

Perfectly round and polished like a crystal ball, the sphere not only cast a gentle, white light, but soothing warmth as well.

“Ouch!” Fate exclaimed suddenly, a sharp pain biting her shoulder blade. Spinning around, she witnessed a tiny blur whiz away and escape into a nearby shrub.

“Pixies,” Ever stated with a roll of her sky-blue eyes. “They’re jerks.”

Fate nodded in agreement, the sting on her back throbbing.

A throaty growl resonated from a distant corner. Deep and rumbling like a storm cloud. Her interest piqued, Fate wandered the winding path. Pushing aside several lazy branches, heavy with leaves, she finally spotted the source of the guttural voice.

Seated in the heart of a yawning cave-like structure, was the most magnificent creature Fate had ever seen.

 

Where are they?

Panic prickled through Kane’s system. What if Fate had led Ever to a remote part of the palace and…he couldn’t think about the possibilities. Couldn’t think of losing Ever. Especially the same way he’d lost Seren.

Forcing himself to calm down and walk at a less hectic pace, he asked each demon he passed if they’d seen the girls. With every answer that resulted in a ‘no’, he became more frantic.

I must have been out of my mind to bring a shade here. What was I thinking?

As if his own consciousness answered him, a series of images flashed through his thoughts: the way her shy star-like eyes lowered when she was embarrassed, followed by the rush of rouge that painted her cheeks. The way she cuddled and babied Ick. The way her silken white hair cascaded over her petite shoulders and fell between her shoulder blades.

A flutter of something warm wandered through his heart and over his soul.

It was hopeless and he knew it. He couldn’t talk himself out of it any longer. He had feelings for her. Feelings that bordered on wrong, yet he simply couldn’t deny them. Demons and shades were simply not meant to be. Were they? How could two different races come together? They were sworn enemies.

His thoughts shifted to Ever. He just knew, deep down, that she was safe. Fate would never hurt her. She didn’t want to be a monster. She wasn’t a monster. She was an angel cursed. Cursed by his own mother.

He exhaled, his heart torn between loyalty and feelings he didn’t want to acknowledge.

Suddenly, the gruesome image of Seren’s chest cavity ripped open, her soul stolen, seized his thoughts. His father’s blood pooled beneath his cooling body. He simply couldn’t allow it. Couldn’t allow the feelings to cloud his judgment.

“No,” he growled through gritted teeth, recalling the wise words of the Oracle. “Shades can’t be trusted.”

 

Every individual scale shimmered with the essence of a sunset. Copper, gold, red, and even a hint of violet. His massive horned head tipped in her direction, watching her every move through fiery amber eyes. Long black talons adorned the tips of his gnarled, russet digits. Vast, membranous wings sprouted from his back. Not unlike bat wings, they had intermittent ribs held taut by dense, coral flesh.

Thick steel bars enclosed him. Imprisoned him. While Fate understood it was for his own good, that Kane wanted to preserve the last dragon in existence, she couldn’t help but feel saddened. Something so beautiful, so powerful, should not be kept locked away. A shortened life would be better than none at all, wouldn’t it?

“His name is Arcanum,” Ever offered.

“Arcanum?” Fate paused, a memory emerging from the depths. She fought to recall. His name meant something. Something she knew from the Surface.

“Yes,” Ever turned to Fate. “The king—my grandfather—found him dying in the desert shortly before he… ” The princess stopped and looked away.

“Before?”

“Before he died,” Ever blurted dismissively. “His name is Arcanum,” she said quickly, changing the subject.

“Arcanum,” Fate repeated quietly. The word ricocheted inside her head like a song you can’t help but sing over and over. His name meant something in her human tongue. But what? As if pushed from the depths of her memory by an angelic source, it surfaced.

Secret…his name means secret.

She prided herself momentarily for the recall, then glanced back at him before following along behind Ever. The old dragon gave a deep sigh, then laid his formidable body down, a wisp of smoke rising from his snout. His eyes stayed locked upon the girls as they passed by his cage. An ancient wisdom lurked behind them, veiled with sadness.

Ahead, Fate could hear commotion. Amidst the foliage, a great cacophony. A shrill whinnying. Without even seeing him, Fate knew right away who the perpetrator was. Ever had already mentioned him.

The Night Mare.

 

Night Mare

 

Tightness spread across his chest. How could he have betrayed Seren’s memory like this? For a shade, no less? Distressed by his own lack of sensibility, he marched through the corridor, still searching for Ever. Maybe they weren’t even together. Maybe Fate had wondered from her room and…his heart did an uncomfortable flip flop.

What if Syphon got a hold of her? What if he’s hurting her?

Again, his true feelings surfaced. This strange and inexplicable desire to protect the shade. Why did he deem her so important? Other than the fact that he needed her to collect the remaining scrolls, and hopefully the stolen ones, he had no use for her. Her kind killed his father. Her kind murdered his wife. Why was this even an issue? A consideration?

He had to harden his heart. Block her from his thoughts. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he furled his brow with fresh determination.

Nothing should come between his responsibility to his people. He had a job to do. He had to find the scrolls, use the shade to retrieve them, then—dispose of her.

 

It was a beast the shade of pure midnight. Sleek as black velvet—except for the fire. A willowy ribbon of flames rolled over his crest, down the back of his neck, and ended at his brawny shoulders. His lengthy tail, grazing the floor behind him, burned with the same fervor as his mane. Even his hooves brandished a blaze.

“Don’t look him in the eye,” Ever warned, keeping her chin tucked into her chest as they stood before the fiery horse.

“Why?” Fate whispered, lowering her eyes to the ground, glancing up with caution to steal an admiring look at him.

“He’s very unpredictable. You never know what his mood is going to be like,” Ever explained.

Not unlike a lot of males around here. Fate rolled her eyes, thinking of Kane and his pendulum of sociability. One minute, warm and engaging, the next, aloof and unreceptive.

“Not to mention,” Ever continued, “his gaze can hypnotize you.”

“How?”

“He was born of black magic. He’s not like the other creatures here.” The demon princess had a low, cautionary tone.

“Not like the others?” Fate reiterated, thinking of the sulky dragon and the elegant phoenix.

“He didn’t come from the Surface. He was conjured.”

“By whom?” The dark horse dragged an ember hoof along the floor of his pen, drawing a long line in the dirt. He lowered his head and gave a grunt, almost as if he was answering Fate in his own language.

Ever shrugged. “We don’t know. He’s not supposed to exist.”

“What’s his name?” Fate allowed her white eyes to linger on the great horse. Nearly twelve feet high, he was simply colossal. But strangely, she wasn’t afraid of him. Only captivated.

Again, the pale princess raised her shoulders. “We just call him Night Mare.”

“Ever!” a Baritone voice thundered through the garden, startling the two girls. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Kane’s large black form stormed through the foliage, leaving a trail of torn leaves and broken branches in his wake.

“Father?” Ever responded calmly, her blue eyes puzzled. “Are you alright?”

“No! I am not alright! I ordered the guards to keep you away from…that.” He fired a cold glare in Fate’s direction.

Her blood ran cold, the sting of shock spreading through her body.

That.

He’d said it with such disgust. Such hatred. Fate was glad for the mask shielding her mouth. It prevented Kane from seeing her bottom lip tremble.

Ever’s blue eyes shot bullets in her father’s directions. “Daddy! How can you be so…”

“Ever,” he interrupted, taking her arm, “Shades can’t be trusted. She could…kill you.”

She ripped her arm from him, leaving his large hand empty and hovering mid-air. “She healed you. And if she wanted to kill me, she would have done it already. She’s had plenty of opportunities.”

Tears welled into the corners of Fate’s eyes. “I…should go,” she forced the words out, hoping they didn’t sound as strangled as they’d felt. Turning to leave, she walked quickly away from father and daughter.

“Wait!” Ever called. “Fate!”

As the first tear rolled over her cheek, Fate stopped walking—and started running.

 

“How dare you!” his daughter’s blue eyes iced over. Hands on her hips, she glared up at the seven foot prince. Her white wings twitched whilst her long tail flicked irritably beneath her gown.

Regret overshadowed the anger that had owned him but moments ago.

“She’s my friend,” the princess waggled an ivory finger in his face, an angry crease woven into her forehead. “And she’s not dangerous, you above all people should know that. She’s had plenty of opportunities to hurt both you and I. But did she? No!”

Kane sighed. “You’re right,” he stated honestly. He’d been an ass.

She immediately silenced, her reprimanding hand falling limply to her side. “I am?” Her eyes widened and she gaped at her father. Never before had he conceded so quickly—if at all.

“Yes.” Kane nodded, raising a large, black hand to his daughter’s pale, satin cheek. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have spoken to her like that. I was just…so worried about you.”

An expression of pure understanding eclipsed her face and a smile graced her lips. Patting his hand as it held her cheek she gave him a firm stare and then pointed her finger in the direction of Fate’s room. “Good. Now go and apologize.”

Kane rolled his eyes and gave his daughter a wide grin. Turning, he made his way out of the garden and headed for Fate’s room.

His stomach fluttered with nerves. He didn’t intend on just apologizing, he was going to tell her everything.

 

“It’s obvious I’m not wanted here,” Fate sniffed, gathering a few items from her room and tossing them into a burgundy pillow case she’d hijacked from the bed. Her tears had ceased halfway to her room and morphed into an angry burn smoldering within her chest. She seethed as she recalled Kane’s venom laced words. “He doesn’t want me here. They don’t want me here.” The image of the demons and their hateful stares fueled her anger further.

She’d made her decision. She was going to find the one person in Dark World who wanted her.

Malus.

Ick whined, wincing each time she stuffed an article into the bag, pounding it for good measure.

Taking last inventory of the room, her gaze fell longingly on the tiny phoenix watching from within his gilded cage. While she desperately wanted to take him with her, it just didn’t seem feasible.

“Unless…” Fate murmured, eyeing the little fireball.

She recalled a time from the Surface that she’d gone to the zoo. There, one employee had a falcon on his arm, talons wrapped tightly around a long, leather glove that nearly reached his elbow. At first, she wondered how he’d gotten the falcon to stay perched there. The bird’s amber eyes were wild and it often stretched and fluttered it wings as though threatening to take flight at any moment. Then she noticed a thick rawhide ribbon dangling from one of the bird’s legs, the other end gripped tight in the man’s fist. A leash.

Fate scanned the room quickly, looking for something that would work for such a tiny bird. Then she saw it. A thin red strip of fabric held back an ivory drape. She moved swiftly across the room, untied it, and brought it back to the cage.

The little bird peeped nervously as Fate tied the thread around his left leg. Tiny flames rolled over the phoenix and licked at her fingers while she gently formed a knot. She’d honestly expected more of a fight from him, but strangely, he seemed to understand what she was doing and cooperated.

Setting the phoenix upon her shoulder, leash in hand, Fate gathered her bag and gave a quick look at Ick, who was watching her with a wary expression.

“You ready to go?” she inquired, her hand clutching the door knob.

If she didn’t know better, Fate was sure she saw him shake his head no.