Post by Shaya on Apr 22, 2016 13:09:26 GMT
(((This is a book I wrote around 7-8 years ago. It's not good, you have been warned.)))
Prologue: SUNSET
Welcome, my friends. Welcome to the future of humanity. Welcome to a living hell that we never planned, never saw, never dreamed of and never wanted. A time of darkness and no light, clouds and no sun, destruction and no repair, adultery without censorship. We fight to survive from beginning to the end of our miserable lives, children who have yet to learn to talk can fire and reload guns. We continue this pointless struggle, as we all know, we will die before the age of twenty.
Demons have taken over this world. The people who survive here call the demons “Shads”. These Shads are a vampire and ghost mixture with powers differing on the date of their birth. These dates are important, the closer to the end of the month of their birth the more power they gain. Why this happens is unknown, but on certain days of the year, depending on the phase of the moon, the Shads are stronger than anyone would hope. These are more powerful than any other Shad and join one of the many “mighty” groups. They are considered leaders among the Shads and are organized by an eldest group that was the first to enter our world.
Every Shad wants to cross-breed with the humans, to create half-demons. These half-demons possess some powers of their demonic parent, but are still feared by humans. Some of these half-demons have made homes among the humans, while others stay with their Shad parents. Those who choose the human race wear scraps of cloth around their head to signify their allegiance. Half-demons who stay with their parents may wear the same garments to fool the humans, but there is an unexplainable aura about their deception that allows the humans to tell friend from foe.
That is all the general background that is needed for now, but now I must introduce you to Cheztec, a half-demon allied with the humans. He wears complete black clothing, and is armed with enough pockets and satchels to carry a large number of guns and ammunitions. His human mother is dead, and his demon father is nowhere to be found. However he knows who killed his mother, whom he plans to avenge by killing the Mighty Five.
The Mighty Five have taken over the small city that used to be known as New York, now it is a desolate area of ruined skyscrapers and apartments. A stadium built by the Shads stands in the city’s center and reminds all of what happens to humans that rebel against them. Once a month ten humans are sent to the stadium to be slaughtered and eaten alive in front of the remaining townspeople.
As I said when we first met, welcome to the future of humanity.
PART 1: DUSK
Chapter 1: unarmed
You want my side of the story? Well, pardon me if I confuse you slightly, I am not what you would call “educated”.
It was dark, nothing special about today, it’s just like yesterday and the day before that, in fact it feels as though it is still the same day. The clouds refuse to give a glimpse of the sun but they’ll welcome the moon. Actually, it’s brighter during night then daytime. The air is stale, even the thought of wind was taken from us, and no sun has made a blistering cold, but the rage and suffering made it abnormally humid as well. A combination that was supposed to make us lose the will to live actually inspired us to move on further, to fight more to get it back to the way it was before. But no matter the demonic power Vis’io is extremely useful. Heightened senses are invaluable during these times of strife, it’s what kept me alive on so many occasions, but hearing the silent cries of humans from around the city block is a curse with this gift.
Vis’io is what gives me confidence to walk these abandoned streets unarmed, an action considered suicide among those who want freedom from the shads. Depending on the pashe of the moon when a demon is born determines what ability they gain. I was lucky to be born on a new moon, the darkest night of every month. Do not fret, you are not listening to a demon. Well at least not wholly so. I am only half demonic, I am frail like you humans and yet I possess this demonic power. The ability to hear, to smell and to see beyond what is truly there has forewarned me to many incidents that should have taken my life.
I still remember, it all started on one dark day. Much happened that day, much didn’t happen and so much was left unresolved.
I could hear gunshots from about five or six blocks away, and another human getting mauled and eaten. It was so sudden, maybe it wasn’t a human, but a half-demon? A shad killing one of their own is an unheard of action; maybe I should head and see what’s going on. It’s easy to run a city block in about a minute, people used to talk about how there would be traffic on these streets, but now it’s nothing more than a fairy tale. I stopped a block early and walked slowly closer, I could hear the bones breaking and flesh being shredded. Shads were cheering with pleasure at their fresh meal, just a note: a hungry shad is a violent shad and you should try to avoid one clutching its stomach or it WILL without a doubt attack and kill you.
I was stopped in an alley, and right outside were about two, maybe three shads. If my hearing is correct then the thing they are eating fired off gunshots, right now I could use a gun. But being unarmed is a curse, and you have to improvise with whatever may or may not be available. Right now I could run into the feast while they’re distracted, grab the gun and shoot them, but if it’s not loaded then I ran into a deathtrap. Taking a quick look around the corner of a ruined building at the shads I see that there’s only two and one has a sword on its waist. It’s interesting, that one has the power of swea, what a human would call swordsmanship. So knowing that one of them can wield a weapon is against me, but if he doesn’t have a weapon then he should be nothing.
One last inspection of the surrounding area tells me that the streets are barren, so he won’t be able to get his hands on anything, except maybe an arm of the person they’re eating. I’ll take my chance with stealing his sword and kill them fast and easy, without much injury. I ran out at them silently, and with all haste, a look of surprise enters their faces as I pass by them. The one without any foreseeable powers rushes at me, which I easily disembowel with my newly obtained sword. Swea looks at me, and reaches to draw his blade, which is conveniently missing. He looks around, and sees his friend on the ground and proceeds to jump onto his body. I’ll take a step back and let him do whatever he’s planning, like a good, chivalrous swordsman.
Swea sniffs the intestines of his comrade, his face already covered in blood. “wake up brother,” the shad said under his breath. I remember listening closely, it was still alive. I didn’t take a chance, I turned and fled from the scene and into a nearby building. If I could get some terrain between us then I would have the element of surprise. I could hear a fast paced noise, footsteps. They were no normal footsteps, whatever was running toward me was on its hands and feet. I hid behind a wall that was barely still standing.
I could hear it sniffing, it was hunting me. The Shad I disemboweled was still alive, they are a persistent bunch, even with their intestines hanging out of their still walking and breathing body they manage to kill you. I held tight onto my sword and looked at my surroundings. None of the walls would stop the Shad if he saw me. I would have to get behind it, and sever its spinal cord. That way even if it is still alive it cannot move. I waited in total silence as I heard the sniffing get louder and louder. I could tell it was on the other side of the wall I am braced against, that’s when I had a sudden change of plan.
Ruining my element of surprise I stabbed the sword through the wall, I could hear the scream of pain. The Shad was impaled on the sword, and still alive. I then finished the demon off by pushing against the wall with all my might. As predicted it was barely standing, and it collapsed on the demon. I waited for the dust to clear before moving forward. The Shad was dead.
This Shad had large claws coming out of his fingers. That is what we call a Heu. Iron bones and Steel claws they are the most persistent of all the shads and the most violent. One of these alone is equivalent to a highly trained soldier of the old days, except of course he has no gun, just very sharp claws. The fact that this Heu came back to find me was reason enough to assume that the Swea wasn’t too far behind. I took the sword out of the Heu’s back and dragged the body around the corner behind another wall.
I waited again, this time I was the predator. I could hear the Swea walking calmly closer. He must have seen the blood trail when he said: “Now brother, save some of the food for me”. As soon as he rounded the corner I jumped at him and my sword impaled him right in the neck. He was chocking on his own blood as I forced the sword deeper into his throat.
I experienced a sudden pain to my genitals, he must have kicked me, and I let go of the sword. The Swea then proceeded to pull the sword out of his own neck while laughing. Thinking quickly I picked up the Heu’s body and used it as a shield of sorts. They don’t lie when they say “iron bones and steel claws”. The corpse made a very good shield although the Swea did not hold back. I used the Heu as a weapon of sorts as well. I moved his arms trying to slash the Swea with the currently outstretched claws.
There was little blood drawn, eventually the Swea just bled to death. I dropped the Heu’s corpse on the ground and took the sword form the fallen Swea. I would need to leave quickly or more would gather. I was lucky they came at me one at a time.
So if my theory is true then Swea is going to rip Heu’s arm off and use it like a sword, and it will work like a very good sword. So I take a few steps forward while he desperately tries to break his friend’s arm off. Once I get close, he looks up and lets out a vicious hiss and growl.
“You know it’s pointless, right?” I said to him with a smile.
“It is going to rain today human, and when it does Jenshe will avenge me!” Jenshe is one of the mighty five and has Merf, the power to turn into water and control weather; she’s the reason why the conditions are so unbearable.
“Jenshe won’t avenge a lackey like you, you’re a pawn, disposable, useless, someone in the front to die first and give the second line an excuse to fight harder”.
He looked up at me, with eyes that said “does it look like I care?” so I stabbed him in the throat. If he won’t listen to the truth then I don’t see a point in talking with him. I took a look at the body they were eating, it was too desecrated to tell if it was human at all, but it did have a gun in its hand. A simple 9mm handgun, useful at closer quarters because of more accuracy, but with only five shots inside it and no ammo on the body it would be almost useless. It’s not possible to kill multiple shads with such little munitions, even a good shot like me cannot hope to survive like this.
Nothing else seemed to be happening, so I decided to take a look at our proud soldier Swea. It really is amazing how similar their anatomy is to ours, all the same vitals and bones, not quite organs or glands though. Shads have small pouches on their backs where their wings come out of, Swea didn’t have them, but when the shads were the human’s research project they classified their wings has separate organs because they worked only when needed or something like that. I could never understand the way people explained it to me.
But it is mostly Heu that interests me, they have extra retractable bone growing out of their fingers, making it very difficult to grab things but let me tell you, it hurts if they hit you. Heu had only the necessities on him, clothes, an empty canteen and a badge. The badges are held by those who are going to participate in the mighty games. It’s like the Olympics of the shads, except you die if you lose. We still have the Olympics as humans, but we have to do it without a shad noticing. Oh, excuse me for getting off-track so often, it’s a bad habit I have.
So this badge, it was just a level 1, but It may be useful later on, I don’t plan on going to the mighty games but it may get me places. After looting the bodies, I looked up at the clouds, it looked like what the swea said was true, it is going to rain. Rain is always bad news, but the weather makes it instinctively a blessing, people walk outside and get killed. I looked around, and took refuge in a nearby building that looked in the best condition. It was a smaller building, two floors, windows broken, and front doors on rusty hinges. It looked as though it could be a store of sorts; a register was bolted to the desk, and shelves were lined with … hair care products? I will never understand humanity and their pride in hair. Even in these conditions they try to “style” it, or make it look clean anyway.
Anyway I looked around, everything was either bolted to the ground or so old it wouldn’t even make a useful barricade. So I went upstairs, where it looked more like a group of living quarters. There were beds without mattresses, bloody rooms, and one locked door right by a window. I examined the lock for any signs of weakness, and it looked like it was kept in good condition. I could hear a whimpering on the other side of the door, a human? It sounds like a female, but female shads are known to do this, try to lure in the men and kill them. She sounded so innocent though, I know I shouldn’t be trying to save anyone, they’ll just slow me down, I put my ear to the door, and I can make out what she’s saying.
“please, oh mighty lord and god, save us from these times of darkness, let an angel shine that will save us, oh please lord why have you abandoned us now of all times?”
Humans are so fascinating, what they’ll say to themselves for self comfort. I looked at the lock again, not sure how she did it, but she was either locked in or locked herself in. I decided to tap on the door gently. I got no response, she did gasp however, I could hear her try to hold back her tears. I decided to call out to her, maybe she’ll say something. “Hey, is anyone in there?”
“Oh god answered my prayers! Yes, please, help me!” she shouted out almost immediately and with obvious joy.
“Ok, I’m going to try to get you out, hold on,” I said as reassurance. I checked out the window, and it was pouring rain. This wasn’t good, I could save her, but then we’d have to find a place to hide for 2 people, but if the shads get curious and open the door before me, well I know what’ll happen. “Ma’am, can you hear me?” I needed to ask her a question.
“Yes, please get me out please!”
“calm down, I just need to ask you something before I get you out,” silence “do you have family somewhere that might still be alive?”
“I honestly don’t know, last I checked my father was still alive, why?”
“What did your father do before we got into this mess?” I ignored her question, for now.
“He was a general in charge of black ops and espionage during our war with the shads.”
“Ok, I’m going to get you out right now, stand away from the door.”
The reason I asked her those questions was to see if there was remorse in her voice. A female shad would say they all died to get you in and feel worse about the situation she was in. I began pounding the door as hard as I could, at the same time I held Swea’s sword to the lock, hoping to break it. The door gave in before the lock, and vis’io gave me a picture of the pitch-black room. Rubble was everywhere, and she was hidden behind an overturned table. I walked in, slowly, and shouted “Where are you?” almost instantly she rushed from behind the table, and latched onto my waist. A sign of affection, or a hug as humans would say.
She started crying on my chest and say “thank you” over and over again. Confused as what to do I returned the gesture, and then I said “we have to find a place to hide, it’s raining outside.”
She looked up at me, her face marked with fresh tears, her hair was blonde, which was rare now-a days, blonde haired people normally resemble angels to the shads and are killed on sight. She also had blue eyes, which doesn’t help either, she must’ve had it hard and been very lucky to survive this long. She looked about 19, and was extremely thin from lack of food and running all the time. She swallowed her tears and just looked at me, humans are so confusing sometimes.
She just keep on holding onto me, I wasn’t sure what I had to do to make her let go, but it was pouring outside and beginning to flood. A person was running outside in the rain, obviously trying to find a house. The water on the ground crept up their legs to their chest and over their mouth nose and eyes. They tried to rip it off like it was tangible, but it was only water, and they struggled so much they drowned in their personal tomb of water.
“We have to hide.” I calmly said to the girl whom I just saved
She let go and motioned me to do something, I looked around, into all the rooms. The mattresses and bed frames would make good walls, but water could get through them, Jenshe could get us if she entered the house. There was nothing here that seemed remotely water-proof, let alone enough to stop a raging Heu. Then I heard noises, faint, but noises none the less. Footsteps, quiet, wet, could just be a human, could be something else. I used my hands to tell the girl to stay where she was, she nodded her head and hid inside a room. I counted my munitions again, 5 shots for the pistol, and the sword I stole from my good old Swea friend. I walked down the hallway slowly, holding my sword, if anything I should conserve ammo right now.
Walking down the stairs slowly, I no longer heard any noise other then the downpour outside. A small puddle dripped under the door, it would be dangerous to go near the door, if Jenshe saw me I’d end up like that human that was outside. Luckily there were no windows in the building, just the glass door. I studied my surroundings again, the shelves were lined against the wall, and there were some shelves that were in the middle of the room. The desk only had a cash register on it, and nothing was behind the desk either. The floor was made of a tile that seemed to let the water flow, and the roof was dripping.
It was then I realized, if there’s water damage on the roof, nowhere is safe from Jenshe. I rushed upstairs and as soon as I turned to go up the stairs, a scream, and glass breaking. When I made it all the way up, all that was left was a broken window, and a puddle of water at the base. So much for saving that girl, apparently Jenshe wanted her for some strange reason. I walked over to the window, the rain had stopped, and the original unbearable conditions were forced upon me once more. Jenshe needs to die for this to end, which means I might need help from that girl’s father.
Chapter 2: Demonic Eyes
“My lord, we bring news from the eldest”.
“Well don’t bow down, just spit it out for me”.
“My Lord Jicha, we have a situation in the northern lands, apparently someone claiming to be a demigod has...”
“WHAT? I thought they died out with the angels!”
“My lord I do not know, I am sorry”.
“You’re useless, go find out what is going on, and don’t come back until you know, or I’ll kill you myself”.
“Yes my lord” the minion scampered away.
My lord Jicha then sat back down on his throne, and turned to me, “Thein, what do you make of this?”
“Well Jicha, it would be worth checking out, if he tells the truth then…”
He slammed his hand on his chair with such force that it echoed through the entire citadel, and broke part of the arm of the chair. I stayed silent, and just took a glance at Jenshe who was standing beside him like me. The other two members of our family were away on other business, Hido, the daughter of Jicha was running a human slave camp outside of old New York. Bulthin was doing whatever he does when he has time alone, he isn’t the brightest but he is the strongest.
“Thien…”
“Yes my lord?”
“You’re smart, why don’t you can Jenshe check on the townspeople? And if you can, fetch me an angelic, they’re so much fun when they squirm”.
I looked at Jenshe who looked like she didn’t want to, but we knew better, “Yes my lord, right away”.
Jenshe and I walked through the main doors of the throne room, and as soon as the overly massive doors shut behind us, we turned to each other.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Jenshe started off our little talk, “I mean I’m technically his wife, we have a kid and he wants me to get him another woman? Who does he think I am a human?”
“I’m enjoying this as much as you Jen, trust me, and Hido he normally doesn’t care what she does that often”.
“I know, he could care a little bit more though, I mean even I have my limits,” she looked behind her and all around us, “I always think he’s following me with that damned teleportation he’s always doing”.
Jicha and Hido both have the same power, Ryu, or teleportation. He hasn’t quite perfected his ability yet, but he has gotten it to the point where he can teleport anything he can see to him, or teleport to anything he can see. He kills by teleporting into people’s mouths when they talk, it rips their brains away from their lower jaw and instantly kills. “Well we can’t really complain to him, he has a whole army at his disposal”.
“I know, I just wish we could run away though, I’d do anything to go into the northern lands with the eldest”.
After a short pause, I asked “You still love your teacher, don’t you?”
She hesitated, nodded her head yes, she then began to cry. I would have comforted her, but I know better, when she is sad it rains, everyone knows that, and Jicha is sick enough to take advantage of it. We may be demons but we have some standards of feeling and knowing each other. Once a tear hit the cold floor, she morphed into water and flowed into a drainage pipe we have set up for her. This citadel was a dark place; it is so corrupt that only demons could possibly handle the dark energies that came from it. I could only continue to walk out, Jenshe needs some time alone.
While I am walking down this lonely passage, allow me to explain a few things. Jenshe has the power of Merf, she can manipulate water and her mentor, Tagon, is one of the Eldests. Tagon mastered Merf, he can freeze and boil water which Jenshe cannot. They did have a love affair, but Ouler, the leader of the Eldest, forced Jenshe to marry Jicha. Marriage is not like what you may think, it’s only purpose is to make demons with either the mother’s or the father’s power, in this case Ryu or Merf. Jenshe is abused by Jicha, and all I can do is watch, it is very unpleasant, and the only thing I can do to ease Jenshe’s pains is to possess her and numb her feelings, but I share the pain in that process.
Oh yes, how rude of me, I forgot to explain myself. I am Thien, advisor to Jicha, and I am the only demon to have the power Wegur. I can possess and control the minds of those weaker than me mentally. I am surprised I have not yet been chosen to be married, I do not know the reason why but Ouler must not deem my power necessary enough. I have been trying to master Wegur, but it is confusing, I have no predecessors to base this off of. I can possess easily, but sometimes I get premonitions, and a mental adrenaline rush will just come over me, when this happens I feel like I am learning so much all at once, and Hido says she sees me walk without moving my feet, but she is a child she may not understand what she is saying.
Well here I come to the great citadel tower, it is the only way in and out to grab a ride with a Kikle, or demon with wings. Kikle circle the tower and pick up anyone who is standing on the balcony, they do the same if you wish to come back up. They are very helpful, and are abnormally passive for being a Demon. As I walked up to the tower where the Kikle circled though, I felt something, a dream.
River Styx rise the dead
River Styx is where they mend
River Styx is where they dine
River Styx the sun shall rise
I get short images, premonitions, not much to see other than a little rhyme, normally they do not come true, one about Jenshe and Jicha separating, it hasn’t happened yet and it won’t happen, she’s trapped with him. They are rather easy to translate, and require little thought, but suddenly I felt as though I fell about a half foot from the ground, I landed where I was standing before, very strange I must say, but I must live with this, I must master Wegur.
“Are you coming or not Thien?” said a kikle suddenly.
“Yes, but give me a moment to collect my thoughts”.
It was raining outside, but it looked as though it was clearing up.
“On second thought, I’ll stay here for now”.
The Kikle left without a word, and I decided to walk back to Jicha’s throne room, he might need me soon I can feel that he is going to call. As I walked back down the hall I noticed a squad of Swea run past me with all haste. Swea normally do not run fast for anything, they are calm and collected and wait for their turn to speak. Whatever it is it can’t be good, I ran after them as fast as I could, and I eventually caught up with them.
“Mind telling me what’s going?” I yelled at one
It took him a bit to gather the breath to talk, but he was able to utter a name “Milisar”.
I was surprising news, I stopped and walked the rest of the way. Milisar’s seals must be weakening, for only a Swea would know. Milisar is possibly the greatest Demon to ever live, ‘The Legend Swea’ they call him, and it is a title that he earned multiple times over. He was a master of swordsmanship, so much to the point that he can communicate with other Swea, even in his forced slumber. Ouler was lucky to seal him, he should have died, but Jenshe’s mentor was there to save him, as well as Jicha, which is why he is where he is today.
I made it back to the throne room doors, but instead of opening them all the way, I merely cracked them open. Jicha appeared before in a quick flash of purple light, turned around and grabbed me by the neck. I could feel his heated breath viciously begging for answers.
“It’s been seventy years Jicha, no need to worry,” I tried to reassure him
“I don’t want to hear it,” his voice was very hostile, “If Milisar comes back Ouler is doomed, and I won’t be there to do the seal with Tagon”.
“Jicha, let’s calm down and…”
“I DON’T WANT TO THINK!” he tossed me to the floor as hard as he could, I think I heard something crack he was so forceful, “That is your job, you think for me, and I don’t have to think, that’s all you have to do, think Thein think, think what would happen if he came back? What if he betrays us again? We won’t be able to stop him!”
I tried to get up, but my legs, I think he broke them. “Thein, if you just sit there we won’t be able to win, that Swea is going to be the death of me!”
Images flashed by my eyes, too fast to bring to words, and I said almost with a second voice, “No Jicha, it will not be Milisar to kill you, it will be the one who has the sun”.
He stared at me, still furious, “You and your damned prophecies,” he warped away.
It still hurt to stand, guess I just have to sit here. Jicha, I hope he dies, I don’t care if it’s by the sun or not, I just want him dead, for everyone’s sake. Maybe with Jicha dead, Milisar will come back, maybe Ouler will call me to seal him instead of Jicha. Maybe I will take his place, the fool better be ready, if I have to let the sun shine then I will, it’ll shine brighter than ever before in the history of this planet.
Prologue: SUNSET
Welcome, my friends. Welcome to the future of humanity. Welcome to a living hell that we never planned, never saw, never dreamed of and never wanted. A time of darkness and no light, clouds and no sun, destruction and no repair, adultery without censorship. We fight to survive from beginning to the end of our miserable lives, children who have yet to learn to talk can fire and reload guns. We continue this pointless struggle, as we all know, we will die before the age of twenty.
Demons have taken over this world. The people who survive here call the demons “Shads”. These Shads are a vampire and ghost mixture with powers differing on the date of their birth. These dates are important, the closer to the end of the month of their birth the more power they gain. Why this happens is unknown, but on certain days of the year, depending on the phase of the moon, the Shads are stronger than anyone would hope. These are more powerful than any other Shad and join one of the many “mighty” groups. They are considered leaders among the Shads and are organized by an eldest group that was the first to enter our world.
Every Shad wants to cross-breed with the humans, to create half-demons. These half-demons possess some powers of their demonic parent, but are still feared by humans. Some of these half-demons have made homes among the humans, while others stay with their Shad parents. Those who choose the human race wear scraps of cloth around their head to signify their allegiance. Half-demons who stay with their parents may wear the same garments to fool the humans, but there is an unexplainable aura about their deception that allows the humans to tell friend from foe.
That is all the general background that is needed for now, but now I must introduce you to Cheztec, a half-demon allied with the humans. He wears complete black clothing, and is armed with enough pockets and satchels to carry a large number of guns and ammunitions. His human mother is dead, and his demon father is nowhere to be found. However he knows who killed his mother, whom he plans to avenge by killing the Mighty Five.
The Mighty Five have taken over the small city that used to be known as New York, now it is a desolate area of ruined skyscrapers and apartments. A stadium built by the Shads stands in the city’s center and reminds all of what happens to humans that rebel against them. Once a month ten humans are sent to the stadium to be slaughtered and eaten alive in front of the remaining townspeople.
As I said when we first met, welcome to the future of humanity.
PART 1: DUSK
Chapter 1: unarmed
You want my side of the story? Well, pardon me if I confuse you slightly, I am not what you would call “educated”.
It was dark, nothing special about today, it’s just like yesterday and the day before that, in fact it feels as though it is still the same day. The clouds refuse to give a glimpse of the sun but they’ll welcome the moon. Actually, it’s brighter during night then daytime. The air is stale, even the thought of wind was taken from us, and no sun has made a blistering cold, but the rage and suffering made it abnormally humid as well. A combination that was supposed to make us lose the will to live actually inspired us to move on further, to fight more to get it back to the way it was before. But no matter the demonic power Vis’io is extremely useful. Heightened senses are invaluable during these times of strife, it’s what kept me alive on so many occasions, but hearing the silent cries of humans from around the city block is a curse with this gift.
Vis’io is what gives me confidence to walk these abandoned streets unarmed, an action considered suicide among those who want freedom from the shads. Depending on the pashe of the moon when a demon is born determines what ability they gain. I was lucky to be born on a new moon, the darkest night of every month. Do not fret, you are not listening to a demon. Well at least not wholly so. I am only half demonic, I am frail like you humans and yet I possess this demonic power. The ability to hear, to smell and to see beyond what is truly there has forewarned me to many incidents that should have taken my life.
I still remember, it all started on one dark day. Much happened that day, much didn’t happen and so much was left unresolved.
I could hear gunshots from about five or six blocks away, and another human getting mauled and eaten. It was so sudden, maybe it wasn’t a human, but a half-demon? A shad killing one of their own is an unheard of action; maybe I should head and see what’s going on. It’s easy to run a city block in about a minute, people used to talk about how there would be traffic on these streets, but now it’s nothing more than a fairy tale. I stopped a block early and walked slowly closer, I could hear the bones breaking and flesh being shredded. Shads were cheering with pleasure at their fresh meal, just a note: a hungry shad is a violent shad and you should try to avoid one clutching its stomach or it WILL without a doubt attack and kill you.
I was stopped in an alley, and right outside were about two, maybe three shads. If my hearing is correct then the thing they are eating fired off gunshots, right now I could use a gun. But being unarmed is a curse, and you have to improvise with whatever may or may not be available. Right now I could run into the feast while they’re distracted, grab the gun and shoot them, but if it’s not loaded then I ran into a deathtrap. Taking a quick look around the corner of a ruined building at the shads I see that there’s only two and one has a sword on its waist. It’s interesting, that one has the power of swea, what a human would call swordsmanship. So knowing that one of them can wield a weapon is against me, but if he doesn’t have a weapon then he should be nothing.
One last inspection of the surrounding area tells me that the streets are barren, so he won’t be able to get his hands on anything, except maybe an arm of the person they’re eating. I’ll take my chance with stealing his sword and kill them fast and easy, without much injury. I ran out at them silently, and with all haste, a look of surprise enters their faces as I pass by them. The one without any foreseeable powers rushes at me, which I easily disembowel with my newly obtained sword. Swea looks at me, and reaches to draw his blade, which is conveniently missing. He looks around, and sees his friend on the ground and proceeds to jump onto his body. I’ll take a step back and let him do whatever he’s planning, like a good, chivalrous swordsman.
Swea sniffs the intestines of his comrade, his face already covered in blood. “wake up brother,” the shad said under his breath. I remember listening closely, it was still alive. I didn’t take a chance, I turned and fled from the scene and into a nearby building. If I could get some terrain between us then I would have the element of surprise. I could hear a fast paced noise, footsteps. They were no normal footsteps, whatever was running toward me was on its hands and feet. I hid behind a wall that was barely still standing.
I could hear it sniffing, it was hunting me. The Shad I disemboweled was still alive, they are a persistent bunch, even with their intestines hanging out of their still walking and breathing body they manage to kill you. I held tight onto my sword and looked at my surroundings. None of the walls would stop the Shad if he saw me. I would have to get behind it, and sever its spinal cord. That way even if it is still alive it cannot move. I waited in total silence as I heard the sniffing get louder and louder. I could tell it was on the other side of the wall I am braced against, that’s when I had a sudden change of plan.
Ruining my element of surprise I stabbed the sword through the wall, I could hear the scream of pain. The Shad was impaled on the sword, and still alive. I then finished the demon off by pushing against the wall with all my might. As predicted it was barely standing, and it collapsed on the demon. I waited for the dust to clear before moving forward. The Shad was dead.
This Shad had large claws coming out of his fingers. That is what we call a Heu. Iron bones and Steel claws they are the most persistent of all the shads and the most violent. One of these alone is equivalent to a highly trained soldier of the old days, except of course he has no gun, just very sharp claws. The fact that this Heu came back to find me was reason enough to assume that the Swea wasn’t too far behind. I took the sword out of the Heu’s back and dragged the body around the corner behind another wall.
I waited again, this time I was the predator. I could hear the Swea walking calmly closer. He must have seen the blood trail when he said: “Now brother, save some of the food for me”. As soon as he rounded the corner I jumped at him and my sword impaled him right in the neck. He was chocking on his own blood as I forced the sword deeper into his throat.
I experienced a sudden pain to my genitals, he must have kicked me, and I let go of the sword. The Swea then proceeded to pull the sword out of his own neck while laughing. Thinking quickly I picked up the Heu’s body and used it as a shield of sorts. They don’t lie when they say “iron bones and steel claws”. The corpse made a very good shield although the Swea did not hold back. I used the Heu as a weapon of sorts as well. I moved his arms trying to slash the Swea with the currently outstretched claws.
There was little blood drawn, eventually the Swea just bled to death. I dropped the Heu’s corpse on the ground and took the sword form the fallen Swea. I would need to leave quickly or more would gather. I was lucky they came at me one at a time.
So if my theory is true then Swea is going to rip Heu’s arm off and use it like a sword, and it will work like a very good sword. So I take a few steps forward while he desperately tries to break his friend’s arm off. Once I get close, he looks up and lets out a vicious hiss and growl.
“You know it’s pointless, right?” I said to him with a smile.
“It is going to rain today human, and when it does Jenshe will avenge me!” Jenshe is one of the mighty five and has Merf, the power to turn into water and control weather; she’s the reason why the conditions are so unbearable.
“Jenshe won’t avenge a lackey like you, you’re a pawn, disposable, useless, someone in the front to die first and give the second line an excuse to fight harder”.
He looked up at me, with eyes that said “does it look like I care?” so I stabbed him in the throat. If he won’t listen to the truth then I don’t see a point in talking with him. I took a look at the body they were eating, it was too desecrated to tell if it was human at all, but it did have a gun in its hand. A simple 9mm handgun, useful at closer quarters because of more accuracy, but with only five shots inside it and no ammo on the body it would be almost useless. It’s not possible to kill multiple shads with such little munitions, even a good shot like me cannot hope to survive like this.
Nothing else seemed to be happening, so I decided to take a look at our proud soldier Swea. It really is amazing how similar their anatomy is to ours, all the same vitals and bones, not quite organs or glands though. Shads have small pouches on their backs where their wings come out of, Swea didn’t have them, but when the shads were the human’s research project they classified their wings has separate organs because they worked only when needed or something like that. I could never understand the way people explained it to me.
But it is mostly Heu that interests me, they have extra retractable bone growing out of their fingers, making it very difficult to grab things but let me tell you, it hurts if they hit you. Heu had only the necessities on him, clothes, an empty canteen and a badge. The badges are held by those who are going to participate in the mighty games. It’s like the Olympics of the shads, except you die if you lose. We still have the Olympics as humans, but we have to do it without a shad noticing. Oh, excuse me for getting off-track so often, it’s a bad habit I have.
So this badge, it was just a level 1, but It may be useful later on, I don’t plan on going to the mighty games but it may get me places. After looting the bodies, I looked up at the clouds, it looked like what the swea said was true, it is going to rain. Rain is always bad news, but the weather makes it instinctively a blessing, people walk outside and get killed. I looked around, and took refuge in a nearby building that looked in the best condition. It was a smaller building, two floors, windows broken, and front doors on rusty hinges. It looked as though it could be a store of sorts; a register was bolted to the desk, and shelves were lined with … hair care products? I will never understand humanity and their pride in hair. Even in these conditions they try to “style” it, or make it look clean anyway.
Anyway I looked around, everything was either bolted to the ground or so old it wouldn’t even make a useful barricade. So I went upstairs, where it looked more like a group of living quarters. There were beds without mattresses, bloody rooms, and one locked door right by a window. I examined the lock for any signs of weakness, and it looked like it was kept in good condition. I could hear a whimpering on the other side of the door, a human? It sounds like a female, but female shads are known to do this, try to lure in the men and kill them. She sounded so innocent though, I know I shouldn’t be trying to save anyone, they’ll just slow me down, I put my ear to the door, and I can make out what she’s saying.
“please, oh mighty lord and god, save us from these times of darkness, let an angel shine that will save us, oh please lord why have you abandoned us now of all times?”
Humans are so fascinating, what they’ll say to themselves for self comfort. I looked at the lock again, not sure how she did it, but she was either locked in or locked herself in. I decided to tap on the door gently. I got no response, she did gasp however, I could hear her try to hold back her tears. I decided to call out to her, maybe she’ll say something. “Hey, is anyone in there?”
“Oh god answered my prayers! Yes, please, help me!” she shouted out almost immediately and with obvious joy.
“Ok, I’m going to try to get you out, hold on,” I said as reassurance. I checked out the window, and it was pouring rain. This wasn’t good, I could save her, but then we’d have to find a place to hide for 2 people, but if the shads get curious and open the door before me, well I know what’ll happen. “Ma’am, can you hear me?” I needed to ask her a question.
“Yes, please get me out please!”
“calm down, I just need to ask you something before I get you out,” silence “do you have family somewhere that might still be alive?”
“I honestly don’t know, last I checked my father was still alive, why?”
“What did your father do before we got into this mess?” I ignored her question, for now.
“He was a general in charge of black ops and espionage during our war with the shads.”
“Ok, I’m going to get you out right now, stand away from the door.”
The reason I asked her those questions was to see if there was remorse in her voice. A female shad would say they all died to get you in and feel worse about the situation she was in. I began pounding the door as hard as I could, at the same time I held Swea’s sword to the lock, hoping to break it. The door gave in before the lock, and vis’io gave me a picture of the pitch-black room. Rubble was everywhere, and she was hidden behind an overturned table. I walked in, slowly, and shouted “Where are you?” almost instantly she rushed from behind the table, and latched onto my waist. A sign of affection, or a hug as humans would say.
She started crying on my chest and say “thank you” over and over again. Confused as what to do I returned the gesture, and then I said “we have to find a place to hide, it’s raining outside.”
She looked up at me, her face marked with fresh tears, her hair was blonde, which was rare now-a days, blonde haired people normally resemble angels to the shads and are killed on sight. She also had blue eyes, which doesn’t help either, she must’ve had it hard and been very lucky to survive this long. She looked about 19, and was extremely thin from lack of food and running all the time. She swallowed her tears and just looked at me, humans are so confusing sometimes.
She just keep on holding onto me, I wasn’t sure what I had to do to make her let go, but it was pouring outside and beginning to flood. A person was running outside in the rain, obviously trying to find a house. The water on the ground crept up their legs to their chest and over their mouth nose and eyes. They tried to rip it off like it was tangible, but it was only water, and they struggled so much they drowned in their personal tomb of water.
“We have to hide.” I calmly said to the girl whom I just saved
She let go and motioned me to do something, I looked around, into all the rooms. The mattresses and bed frames would make good walls, but water could get through them, Jenshe could get us if she entered the house. There was nothing here that seemed remotely water-proof, let alone enough to stop a raging Heu. Then I heard noises, faint, but noises none the less. Footsteps, quiet, wet, could just be a human, could be something else. I used my hands to tell the girl to stay where she was, she nodded her head and hid inside a room. I counted my munitions again, 5 shots for the pistol, and the sword I stole from my good old Swea friend. I walked down the hallway slowly, holding my sword, if anything I should conserve ammo right now.
Walking down the stairs slowly, I no longer heard any noise other then the downpour outside. A small puddle dripped under the door, it would be dangerous to go near the door, if Jenshe saw me I’d end up like that human that was outside. Luckily there were no windows in the building, just the glass door. I studied my surroundings again, the shelves were lined against the wall, and there were some shelves that were in the middle of the room. The desk only had a cash register on it, and nothing was behind the desk either. The floor was made of a tile that seemed to let the water flow, and the roof was dripping.
It was then I realized, if there’s water damage on the roof, nowhere is safe from Jenshe. I rushed upstairs and as soon as I turned to go up the stairs, a scream, and glass breaking. When I made it all the way up, all that was left was a broken window, and a puddle of water at the base. So much for saving that girl, apparently Jenshe wanted her for some strange reason. I walked over to the window, the rain had stopped, and the original unbearable conditions were forced upon me once more. Jenshe needs to die for this to end, which means I might need help from that girl’s father.
Chapter 2: Demonic Eyes
“My lord, we bring news from the eldest”.
“Well don’t bow down, just spit it out for me”.
“My Lord Jicha, we have a situation in the northern lands, apparently someone claiming to be a demigod has...”
“WHAT? I thought they died out with the angels!”
“My lord I do not know, I am sorry”.
“You’re useless, go find out what is going on, and don’t come back until you know, or I’ll kill you myself”.
“Yes my lord” the minion scampered away.
My lord Jicha then sat back down on his throne, and turned to me, “Thein, what do you make of this?”
“Well Jicha, it would be worth checking out, if he tells the truth then…”
He slammed his hand on his chair with such force that it echoed through the entire citadel, and broke part of the arm of the chair. I stayed silent, and just took a glance at Jenshe who was standing beside him like me. The other two members of our family were away on other business, Hido, the daughter of Jicha was running a human slave camp outside of old New York. Bulthin was doing whatever he does when he has time alone, he isn’t the brightest but he is the strongest.
“Thien…”
“Yes my lord?”
“You’re smart, why don’t you can Jenshe check on the townspeople? And if you can, fetch me an angelic, they’re so much fun when they squirm”.
I looked at Jenshe who looked like she didn’t want to, but we knew better, “Yes my lord, right away”.
Jenshe and I walked through the main doors of the throne room, and as soon as the overly massive doors shut behind us, we turned to each other.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Jenshe started off our little talk, “I mean I’m technically his wife, we have a kid and he wants me to get him another woman? Who does he think I am a human?”
“I’m enjoying this as much as you Jen, trust me, and Hido he normally doesn’t care what she does that often”.
“I know, he could care a little bit more though, I mean even I have my limits,” she looked behind her and all around us, “I always think he’s following me with that damned teleportation he’s always doing”.
Jicha and Hido both have the same power, Ryu, or teleportation. He hasn’t quite perfected his ability yet, but he has gotten it to the point where he can teleport anything he can see to him, or teleport to anything he can see. He kills by teleporting into people’s mouths when they talk, it rips their brains away from their lower jaw and instantly kills. “Well we can’t really complain to him, he has a whole army at his disposal”.
“I know, I just wish we could run away though, I’d do anything to go into the northern lands with the eldest”.
After a short pause, I asked “You still love your teacher, don’t you?”
She hesitated, nodded her head yes, she then began to cry. I would have comforted her, but I know better, when she is sad it rains, everyone knows that, and Jicha is sick enough to take advantage of it. We may be demons but we have some standards of feeling and knowing each other. Once a tear hit the cold floor, she morphed into water and flowed into a drainage pipe we have set up for her. This citadel was a dark place; it is so corrupt that only demons could possibly handle the dark energies that came from it. I could only continue to walk out, Jenshe needs some time alone.
While I am walking down this lonely passage, allow me to explain a few things. Jenshe has the power of Merf, she can manipulate water and her mentor, Tagon, is one of the Eldests. Tagon mastered Merf, he can freeze and boil water which Jenshe cannot. They did have a love affair, but Ouler, the leader of the Eldest, forced Jenshe to marry Jicha. Marriage is not like what you may think, it’s only purpose is to make demons with either the mother’s or the father’s power, in this case Ryu or Merf. Jenshe is abused by Jicha, and all I can do is watch, it is very unpleasant, and the only thing I can do to ease Jenshe’s pains is to possess her and numb her feelings, but I share the pain in that process.
Oh yes, how rude of me, I forgot to explain myself. I am Thien, advisor to Jicha, and I am the only demon to have the power Wegur. I can possess and control the minds of those weaker than me mentally. I am surprised I have not yet been chosen to be married, I do not know the reason why but Ouler must not deem my power necessary enough. I have been trying to master Wegur, but it is confusing, I have no predecessors to base this off of. I can possess easily, but sometimes I get premonitions, and a mental adrenaline rush will just come over me, when this happens I feel like I am learning so much all at once, and Hido says she sees me walk without moving my feet, but she is a child she may not understand what she is saying.
Well here I come to the great citadel tower, it is the only way in and out to grab a ride with a Kikle, or demon with wings. Kikle circle the tower and pick up anyone who is standing on the balcony, they do the same if you wish to come back up. They are very helpful, and are abnormally passive for being a Demon. As I walked up to the tower where the Kikle circled though, I felt something, a dream.
River Styx rise the dead
River Styx is where they mend
River Styx is where they dine
River Styx the sun shall rise
I get short images, premonitions, not much to see other than a little rhyme, normally they do not come true, one about Jenshe and Jicha separating, it hasn’t happened yet and it won’t happen, she’s trapped with him. They are rather easy to translate, and require little thought, but suddenly I felt as though I fell about a half foot from the ground, I landed where I was standing before, very strange I must say, but I must live with this, I must master Wegur.
“Are you coming or not Thien?” said a kikle suddenly.
“Yes, but give me a moment to collect my thoughts”.
It was raining outside, but it looked as though it was clearing up.
“On second thought, I’ll stay here for now”.
The Kikle left without a word, and I decided to walk back to Jicha’s throne room, he might need me soon I can feel that he is going to call. As I walked back down the hall I noticed a squad of Swea run past me with all haste. Swea normally do not run fast for anything, they are calm and collected and wait for their turn to speak. Whatever it is it can’t be good, I ran after them as fast as I could, and I eventually caught up with them.
“Mind telling me what’s going?” I yelled at one
It took him a bit to gather the breath to talk, but he was able to utter a name “Milisar”.
I was surprising news, I stopped and walked the rest of the way. Milisar’s seals must be weakening, for only a Swea would know. Milisar is possibly the greatest Demon to ever live, ‘The Legend Swea’ they call him, and it is a title that he earned multiple times over. He was a master of swordsmanship, so much to the point that he can communicate with other Swea, even in his forced slumber. Ouler was lucky to seal him, he should have died, but Jenshe’s mentor was there to save him, as well as Jicha, which is why he is where he is today.
I made it back to the throne room doors, but instead of opening them all the way, I merely cracked them open. Jicha appeared before in a quick flash of purple light, turned around and grabbed me by the neck. I could feel his heated breath viciously begging for answers.
“It’s been seventy years Jicha, no need to worry,” I tried to reassure him
“I don’t want to hear it,” his voice was very hostile, “If Milisar comes back Ouler is doomed, and I won’t be there to do the seal with Tagon”.
“Jicha, let’s calm down and…”
“I DON’T WANT TO THINK!” he tossed me to the floor as hard as he could, I think I heard something crack he was so forceful, “That is your job, you think for me, and I don’t have to think, that’s all you have to do, think Thein think, think what would happen if he came back? What if he betrays us again? We won’t be able to stop him!”
I tried to get up, but my legs, I think he broke them. “Thein, if you just sit there we won’t be able to win, that Swea is going to be the death of me!”
Images flashed by my eyes, too fast to bring to words, and I said almost with a second voice, “No Jicha, it will not be Milisar to kill you, it will be the one who has the sun”.
He stared at me, still furious, “You and your damned prophecies,” he warped away.
It still hurt to stand, guess I just have to sit here. Jicha, I hope he dies, I don’t care if it’s by the sun or not, I just want him dead, for everyone’s sake. Maybe with Jicha dead, Milisar will come back, maybe Ouler will call me to seal him instead of Jicha. Maybe I will take his place, the fool better be ready, if I have to let the sun shine then I will, it’ll shine brighter than ever before in the history of this planet.