Demons and devils were humans, too. Keyword: Were.
Demons and devils were humans, too. Keyword: Were.
Demons and devils were humans, too. Keyword: Were.
My head shot up, caution seeping into my system. The loud jingle of the alarm bells and the shrills of the nearby crow flock filled my ears, sending sharp pain coursing into my head. I jumped to my feet, snapping my fingers to change. Something my mother has trained me to do since I was young, and itās to help with emergencies. Was this an emergency? I think so. The bells never ring unlessā¦ A knock. 2 knocks.
āFather,ā I greeted, dipping my head into a small bow. He nods, his mouth pulled into a small frown. I furrowed my brows, confused. āWhatās wrong?ā
He shook his head, his eyes on my small hunting bag. āYouāre going hunting again?ā
āYeah, the bells went off. Angels are nearby,ā I sighed, picking up my bow and arrow and sheathed my daggers.
āBe careful then, donāt get tricked.ā
āI will, father.ā
My father then turned his back towards me and left as I watched his figure disappear within the mist of our land. I live in Deyria, nicknamed Demons Den. The air is shrouded with thick fog, so often that even a beam of sunlight would be considered āluckā or a āmiracle.ā The angels had set this curse on us back before I existed for unknown reasons. Weāve been at war ever since.
I like to think demons and devils are winning the war, though I donāt have the full picture because Iām not allowed to fight, only allowed to hunt.
My lips formed a small āoā, casting a spell to shrink my hunting bag, stuffing it in the pocket of my cloak. My hands went to do my light brown hair, tying them into simple pigtails. Then, I headed out, shivering when the cold breeze hit my skin. In Deyria, we rarely get seasons, mostly Autumn and Winter, except you canāt tell the difference.
My feet strolled along the pathway as if I were not on a hunting trip, my piercing red eyes alert on anything. I hummed a tune in a leisurely manner that if it werenāt for my horns, Iād be mistaken for a mortal creature who wandered too far and ended up in the land of demons, yet oblivious to where they are.
As time passed, I had no idea how long Iād been walking. I reached the end of the pathway into what looks like Miano Forest, a fruitful forest on the south side of Deyria.
āGreat timing, Iām hungry anyway. I could use some fruits,ā I mumbled, skipping into the forest. Although Iām one of the creatures mortals call scary, evil, or even cursed, Iām quite playful and childish, or thatās what my parents say.
The lush green trees of the forest filled my vision, along with the thick barks colored in warm brown. The scent is relaxing ā the fresh smell of a normal forest. Surprisingly, the mist never reaches this area of Deyria. No crows were spotted either here, and even if they were, theyād be immediately killed.
Only demons and devils who live in the south of Deyria have a grasp of exactly what season it is because Miano, the fruit, only grows during Autumn. Thatās the harvest season and when business back home starts booming in the markets. The transports come from Miano Forest, where I am right now. The name for the forest is, of course, named after the fruit since Miano grows best here. The fruit is juicy and plump, always ripe, and quite sweet as well.
I spotted a good-looking Miano and reached my hand up to the branch to pick it. Slowly, I inspected the large fruit, as large as my whole hand, and took a bite out of it. The sugary flavor of the fruit flooded into my mouth, satisfying my taste buds. I gulped, swallowing the chunk of fruit alone, sighing in delight afterward.
A strange feeling waved through me, my head suddenly feeling light. My eyelids felt tired, and everything was blurrier than usual. I blinked once, then again, but it was no use. A figure that appeared from a bright light of some sort appeared in front of me before my vision went pitch black.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blinkā¦
Blinkā¦
Blinkā¦
I gasped, jolting up, my consciousness slowly returning to me. I was alone in a dim room, which looked like some sort of cell to me. I tried to run forward, only to feel a hot pain arise on my shoulder and wrists. I sat back, giving in and lifting my wrists to check. I was chained to a wall, probably, and all settled in. The forest, the fruit, the strange feeling, and the strange figure.
The fruit was poisoned or enchanted, and I was captured afterward. But what would someone want with me? Iām unimportant and couldnāt offer anything to anyone, even if I wanted to.
The taps of heels broke my bullet train of thought. My back straightened in surprise. Adrenaline rushed through me, and my shoulders rose to a defensive pose.
āCome on out, whoeverās there,ā I called out, hearing my voice echo through the chamber.
āYou noticed me, good job,ā a figure ā the figure I saw before I fainted came out. I didnāt recognize the being, but they possessed the same aura before I blacked out. His tall figure was leaning on the entrance of the room, and a small smirk was pasted on his face as his bright jade eyes met mine. Calculating, cunning, smart. Those words flashed through my mind. Iām not quite sure, but I think Iām staring at him.
āYeah, itās impossible not to,ā I rolled my eyes, relaxing the muscles on my face into a poker face. āHave you thought about changing your heels? Theyāre loud, itās annoying.ā
He paused, his eyes widening in surprise before chuckling, amused at my attitude towards him. āYouāre feisty.ā
āGreat observation, Iām so shocked to hear that,ā thick sarcasm coated my words. He chuckled again, his hands threading through his ash-gray hair so his bangs were out of the way.
I suddenly felt the urge to gulp, a kind of feeling settling in my stomach. Something unfamiliar, something new.
And I didnāt like that one bit. āWell,ā I began, wanting to push him away. āAs it was nice meeting you, Iām an introvert and would prefer some time alone, if you would?ā
āAh, yes,ā he replied, his eyes empty of any emotions. Itās impossible to read him, and it annoys me quite a lot. āI suppose itās time for me to depart too. Iāll send some angels down to feed and water you. Farewell for now, Sylvie.ā
As those words were spoken, his knees straightened. I tilted my head upwards to look at his body turn, his loud heels tapping on the concrete floor. Soon, his silhouette disappeared, too.
I sat in silence, not knowing what to feel. I didnāt question how he knew my name ā apparently, Iām quite famous in realms. Thereās something more important Iām focused on: the twist in my stomach ā a good one that makes you feel pleasure instead of fear. What was going on with me?
Is this what mortals callā¦
Love?
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
I donāt know how long Iāve been in there, but frankly, I didnāt care about that. Was it weird?
It probably is because, on top of not caring about how long Iāve been stuck in a room, which perhaps would drive any mortal crazy, I find it oddly calming or peaceful. Wait, they mean the same thingā¦ never mind.
My thoughts werenāt rushing like they usually were, and I could finally slow down and catch a rest for my body, which was slightly sore. I shouldnāt have done that much running and walking.
The angelic being ā who I discovered was named Andreas ā comes to visit once in a while, and Iāve started warming up to him. I donāt know exactly why he wants me here yet, but I heard heās coming in today.
I tilted my chin, my skin tingling weirdly. (This happens when someone is approaching me.) The familiar tap tap tap of the annoying heels closed.
āSilver, good morning,ā he greeted, and I sighed at the nickname. It turns out heās the kind of captor who is actually quite soft and would give nicknames to his captives. I jumped straight into what I wanted to ask.
āAndreas, I have a question. Why did you choose me? Like, out of all demons, why me? Iām not high in rank, let alone valuable,ā I inquired.
Andreas knelt to his normal pose, positioning his knee so that the fancy cloth of his blue jeans didnāt stain. His jade eyes stared into mine. āIād a feeling youād ask that.
It wasnāt me, but my father instead. Heās noticed angels being killed by roaming around what your kind claimed as your land. He sent me to enchant the Miano fruits in that forest because thatās the closest demons can get between our borders. You were our first one. And you happened to be a hunter.ā
I opened my mouth to speak, ask another question, whatever, but he continued, shutting me up. āWhat wasnāt supposed to happen, though, was me taking a liking to you. But we have to continue with what we need to do. Youāre slowly turning into a human.ā
āWhat?ā¦ā my eyes widened in disbelief, and my head suddenly felt painfully heavy. The soft spot I had for Andreas disappeared into thin air. I sharpened my voice and glared at him. āWhat do you mean?ā
āIām reverting you to human, itās why you hadā have a soft spot for me. Humans call it love.ā
āI. Am. Not. A. Human,ā I punctuated each word, seething.
āDemons and devils were humans too,ā he explained, his smug expression gone, replaced by a poker face. Itās impossible to read this man.
āKeyword to your sentence, were,ā I retorted, balling my fist up. āAnd we did not choose the wrong path; you guys drove us into this path.ā
Andreas sighed. āDonāt generalize, darling. Go to sleep. Everything will be okay.ā
His hand caressed my cheek, and for a moment, I leaned into it, but then I felt something prick my chin, and I pulled away, shooting a nasty look at him to the best of my ability. He smiled ā genuinely and apologetically for some reason ā and got up to walk away. Tears prick my eyes, and soon after, the beads of salt rolled down my cheeks.
āIām sorry, father.ā
Contrasting Love by Euthymia !! is a teaser of a short story that would absolutely make a heck of a prologue for a full-length novel. In just this brief introduction, I was already attached to the young main character and very curious about her world.
Sylvie is a young horned demon (I assume sheās young; she could be hundreds of years old and still be a young demon) who lives with her parents in the perpetually fog-shrouded Deyria, the land of devils and demons. The story opens with alarm bells warning that angels are nearby. The demons and devils are at war with the angels, the reason for which is lost to the past. As Sylvie prepares to go hunting (we donāt know what for), her father cautions her not to āget tricked.ā She is polite and respectful to her father and promises that she wonāt be.
The story unfolds from Sylvieās point of view, and her narrative is bright and curious. As she heads out to hunt, she gives a running commentary on her journey, describing her surroundings in vivid and evocative detail, so I had a clear and immediate picture of the setting. Hungry, she paused her walk along the trail as it nears the Miano Forest, which is known as a prime source of deliciously Ā edible fruit (the āmiano,ā after which the forest is named.) However, just as she takes her first juicy bit, things start to go terribly wrong.
The author has quite a twist up their sleeve for where this story is heading and Sylvieās fate. Along the way, she begins to experience feelings that are unknown to devils and demons. While we donāt get as good of an understanding of the character Andreas, he still makes an impact, and this begs for more exploration. The language used could use a bit of an edit for correctness, such as the use of nouns that are spelled the same, whether singular or plural. But other than this, what I really want is more story!
With its intriguing premise and engaging main character, I urge the author to expand this story and tell us what got these disparate groups at odds with each other and how Sylvieās predicament will resolve.