Releasing the Demons: Solarian Chronicles II

by Mallory Anderson

  Ian took it, and they all could see his hand trembling, and he swallowed hard. It was only a split second look, and it stunned those who knew him beyond belief to see tears fill his eyes. “That’s her. That’s my sister.”

  Mickala leaned over, and she saw a tall, pretty girl with black hair, like Ian said, but her eyes were indeed darker. She looked incredibly young, but she was with a man and a woman, and the woman was holding a small boy about three years old with pale-colored eyes, and once she realized the dark spots on his back were dragon wings, she realized she was looking at Ian when he was a child. Tianna also had wings, and a long, scaled tail that ended in a point, but they were a pale gold color. “Uncle Ari, who are the other two people?” She thought to herself they looked familiar.

  * * *

  “They’re Ian and Tianna’s parents,” he said, never looking away from Ian’s face. “Your Uncle James and Aunt Elizabeth, Mickala”

  Ian looked up at him in shock. “But, how…? I’ve been trying to find anything I could about my parents for almost nine hundred years.”

  He chuckled quietly. “You just weren’t looking in the right places. I can tell you everything you need to know about your parents, about your entire family.”

  “How?”

  They all thought they could see tears in Ari’s green eyes, eyes that reminded Ian painfully of Tianna’s eyes. “Because, the picture you’re looking at is the last portrait I ever received of my son, daughter-in-law, and my grandchildren. James, Elizabeth, Tianna, and Ian Sands.”

  Everyone at the table fell into a shocked silence, looking between Ari and Ian, who was staring hard at the man. “What are you saying?” he asked.

  Now, they were positive tears were in his eyes as one fell and slowly rolled down his face. “I’m say, Ian Storm, you can stop looking for your family, because you’ve found it.”

  “So, Ari…you’re Ian’s grandfather?” EJ asked, his voice soft.

  He nodded. “Ian is my grandson, the heir to the throne of Elagon, and he’s also Mickala’s cousin.”

  Aiden swore. “You said cousins?”

  Ari nodded. “Her grandfather, Sathe, was my older brother.”

  Ian’s eyes were enormous. “Heir?”

  Ari nodded again, a faint smile on his face. “As my grandson and my only living relative, yes. One day, you’ll be King of Elagon.” Ian looked as if he was about to pass out, and Ari laughed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be more than happy to each you everything you’ll need to know.”

  Without a word, Ian stood and went to stand in front of Ari. “So, you’re really my grandfather?” Ari nodded, and Ian threw his arms around him, no longer without a family, and Ari embraced him tightly, his eyes closed.

  Twenty Five

  Back to the Music

  Mickala watched with a smile on her face. Aiden glanced at her. “You didn’t know he was Elagonian?”

  She shook her head. “No. I can only sense my people, and since my mother is Queen, not me, I can barely tell. Besides, I haven’t seen Ari for centuries, and I only met Uncle James two or three times. I never even knew he’d gotten married, much less had two children. I don’t understand why two Elagonians were living in the demon realm,” she said.

  Ari sighed. “They felt safer there because of what Ian and Tianna were capable of. I had begged them to come back to the human realm many times, but James was stubborn. I thought my world had ended when I got word nine hundred years ago that he and Elizabeth had been killed, and my grandchildren had disappeared. When you walked into my office, I saw those eyes, so much like your mother’s, and I wondered. Then, I felt the blood running through your veins, and I hoped. When Mickala said this morning, you had a sister name Tianna, for the first time in a long time, I was truely happy. I couldn’t believe it. You are my grandson, and you’re no longer alone. In the peoples of Solaris and Elagon, family is at the core of everything. Now, you’ve got family again, in myself and in Mickala.”

  The revelation had them all stunned, but Ian seized the change to reconnect with his long-lost grandfather. Chad and Philip joined them later, starving, and they told them about Mickala’s being Ari’s niece, but kept Ian and Ari’s relationship a secret for now. Finally, around midnight, Ari paid for their dinner, then looked at all of them. “I think it would best if mine and Mickala’s genuine relationship didn’t go beyond us for now. Some might be afraid I would be giving you preferential treatment.” They all nodded their agreement, and she wished them all a good night. I’ll talk to you and Ian more. He has a lot of learn about his ancestors. If you would, help him. You know Elagon’s history as well as I do, and you’ll be with him much more than I can be.

  Of course, Uncle, she replied.

  * * *

  Philip and Chad were yawning, and they went for their beds not long after getting back to the hotel, but EJ sat up with Aiden, Ian, Nehela, and Mickala. He was still astounded by what they’d found out. “So, let me get this straight,” he said, holding his hands up. “Ian, who hates any type of authority, is really Elagonian, a prince, and the heir to a throne? Not to mention, Mickala’s cousin?” They nodded. “And the head of Warner Records, who just signed you all to an awesome deal, is King of Elagon, Ian’s grandfather, and Mickala’s great uncle.”

  “Pretty much,” Aiden said with a laugh, then he began singing ‘It’s a Small World After All’ under his breath.

  Ian was still in shock from everything that had happened. “How am I going to learn everything?”

  Mickala leaned over and took his hand with a gentle smile. “You’re cousins with a bona fide princess, remember? Besides, I know Mom would be more than happy to help.” She laughed suddenly. “She’s going to be thrilled she had a nephew.”

  Over the next few days, she began teaching Ian everything she could about Elagon’s history, and Ari and Michelle were chipping in mentally whenever she needed guidance. She mainly needed help with the early history of the Fire Planet, when the royal family were tied with dragons much the same way Solarian’s were with Dellings. She was on much firmer ground when she reached the point of their history when Michael, Sathe and Ari’s father, took the throne. Ian learned quickly, and he and Ari would often hold long talks whenever the record executive wasn’t busy.

  They had been in New York for almost a week and a half when Malik, who was really a friend of the family for thousands of years, called and said they had a meeting with a producer the next day. Ari was eager to get them in the studio to work on their debut album. He said he would have a car for them at the hotel at nine in the morning. They were beyond excited to get in the studio and make music.

  She thought she was going to have to dope herself up again to get some rest the night before, and she was up before the sun. She was standing at the window, watching the sun coming up, and she felt arms around her waist. “You couldn’t sleep, either?” Aiden asked, his breath tickling the hairs on the back of her neck.

  She shook her head. “I’m way too excited.”

  He laughed. “Me, too.”

  * * *

  Morning continued to creep in, and she got dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, black boots, and a dark grey shirt with butterfly sleeves. The others were in similar comfortable clothes, and they were all yawning. Apparently, Aiden and Mickala weren’t the only ones who couldn’t sleep. They got down to the lobby and saw the familiar Hummer pull up, and they piled in. Slowly, they made their way through the city before pulling up in front of a plain building that held their studio. When they got out and went in, the receptionist smiled when they said they were meeting their producer for the first time. She called to confirm, then hung up. “He’ll be right with you.”

  They sat down, and about ten minutes later, a man came out, one they immediately recognized as having worked with some of the biggest names in the business, many of which were their idols, Mark Jones. He shook their hands, and they made the introductions. “Ready to get to work?”

 
“Absolutely!” Chad said.

  “Good. Come on.” He led them to the back, past several other studios, some of which were in use, and some that were empty. They went into a large one, and inside the soundproof booth, there were instruments and microphones already set up. “Mr. Sands contacted me about you guys a few days ago. I’m not going to lie. I’m usually really iffy about working with artists for the first time, so I did some research.” He shook his head. “I found your social media pages, and it didn’t take me long to realize, you guys know your way around a studio. Do you have one at home?”

  “Yes, sir,” Aiden said.

  Mark nodded. “You guys look and act on stage like you’ve been doing this for years. He also said you had a demo ready?”

  Mickala nodded, and EJ gave him the CD, and he put it in. The music blared, but it didn’t seem to faze him as he listened intently to the first couple of minutes to each of the fourteen songs. After the last one, he looked up with a grin. “That sounds amazing. You must have some fantastic equipment.”

  “Top of the line,” EJ said proudly.

  “Work with me for a couple of weeks, and I bet I’ll have you an album ready for release. It seems as if you’ve already done most of the hard stuff before you came here.”

  “Really?” Philip asked.

  He nodded. “I’m very impressed. Who did you work with on your demo?” EJ raised his hand, “Dude, this right here is lit. You want to work with me on this? You know their sound, and you can help me tweak it without losing any of it.”

  The offer stunned him. “Of course.”

  “Good.” He clapped his hands together. “All right, Demons. Let’s get to work.”

  They went into the booth, and it was after two when they broke for lunch, and it was Mark who called for the stop, while the band was still fired up. It had taken them a couple of minutes to get the nerves of excitement to settle, but Mark had told them not to worry about, that everyone’s first few run-throughs were usually just for practice. Once they had gotten settled in, they realized it was just like being at home. Only, instead of EJ behind the soundboard, one of the best in the business was calling the shots.

  He laughed as they reluctantly came out of the booth. “You aren’t going to do anyone any good if you fall out from hunger.”

  They took an hour break, and when they finished, Mickala went in by herself to lay down some vocals. Of course, they’d heard her singing the songs before, but there was something different about her voice now that it was real, and they all sat, almost mesmerized. The producer’s voice came over a speaker after she’d finished the fifth song. “You sound amazing, Mickala, but it’s almost six-thirty, though, so let’s call it a night.”

  She came out of the booth, and Nehela handed her a bottle of water. “You guys sound like pros already. Be back here at eight-thirty in the morning, and we’ll have this album ready in no time. We just have to finish putting down the vocals, and the individual instruments, then we’ll layer it all together.”

  * * *

  They worked almost nonstop for four weeks, during which they selected the three songs they wanted to release as single. Eventually, they decided to self-title their album, and a dark, edgy song named ‘Fallen’ was the first song to drop, which showcased Mickala’s hauntingly powerful vocals. They were in the last stages of recording, having already approved the cover art and the inside jacket.

  Mickala had returned to their social media platforms in full force, daily documenting their recording journey, and their numbers of followers continued to rise. The Demons released ‘Fallen’, and it took off online, the streaming and downloading numbers climbing by leaps and bounds seemingly by the hour. They were in the studio, taking a short break when Mark held up his hand. “Wait, wait, wait,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get this all week.” He turned the radio up, and they were revealing the top three singles of the week, and ‘Fallen’ was number two. Total silence fell over the studio, and Mickala felt the sting of tears as she heard her voice on mainstream radio for the first time.

  Chad and Philip’s eyes were huge, and the others’ mouths all hung open. The song went off, and they all went crazy. Mark laughed. “‘Fallen’ is working its way up the charts all over the country. It’s already winning late night battles on radio stations across Atlanta, Seattle, Detroit, here, even in L.A. People are talking, wondering who in the hell ‘The Demons’ are.” He grinned. “You know you have something when a rock song takes off like this. It’s just so hard to push past all the pop, hip hop, and R and B that’s flooding the airwaves these days.” He pulled out a sheet of paper. “You guys are at 24 on the Top Forty, but on the Mainstream Rock, you’re at 6, so you’re doing freaking amazing.”

  Over the next week, as their manager, Nehela’s business cell phone began ringing off the hook, her own email and social media accounts being inundated with requests for the group. She began setting up appearances for the group, mostly radio interviews, but she even landed them a few TV appearances, mostly on morning talk shows like GMA and TODAY. As they continued making themselves known to the country, and even the world, the single continued to rise.

  Not even three weeks after its release, Ari called. “Hey, little heart, guess what?”

  “What’s up, Uncle Ari?” she asked.

  “Have you seen the latest charts?” he asked, and with him being on speaker phone, they all heard the smile in his voice.

  “Not yet,” he replied, looking at Nehela, who was already pulling them up on her phone.

  The elf’s green eyes widened. “Oh, my God, oh my God, oh my God,” she said, her hand going to her mouth.

  “What? What is it?” Chad asked, and she passed it to him, and he couldn’t even talk, he was so excited. Slowly, the phone made the rounds, and they couldn’t believe it.

  “Okay, what the hell?” Mickala asked, waiting her turn, and Nehela showed Mickala. She almost dropped both phones, and Ari laughed as the excited yelling started.

  “Congratulations, Demons. You have your first number one in both the Top Forty and in the Rock charts.”

  * * *

  Things seemed to get really crazy after that, and everyone began clamoring for the album, which was two weeks from its release date. The Demons flew out to LA to shoot their first video, and Mickala loved the rooftop set up with the wind and rain machines. They would add lightning later during post production. They wrapped up the video shoot a week later, and they had a huge viewing party, and they couldn’t believe it was really them. Mickala was in a solid black with well-placed holes and tears, and a pair of six-inch knee-high boots, and with the wind and rain, the whole look just worked. Aiden laughed quietly. “You’re sexy as hell, you know that, right?”

  She smiled, taking his hand. “You look pretty damn hot yourself, fox-boy.”

  After the video launched, they got on a plane to fly back to New York. They had only been in the air for a couple of hours when they hit some heavy turbulence going over Oklahoma and Arkansas from severe storms that were forming. One of the flaps suddenly got stuck, and the plan fell into a steep nosedive.

  Everyone around them was panicking, and Mickala closed her eyes, trying to use her power to level the plane out and fix the flap, but its momentum was too great. Sweat broke out on her forehead, and she felt Aiden and Ian’s energies join hers, then EJ’s and Nehela’s. The aircraft leveled off slightly, but it was still losing altitude fast. I don’t have anything left, she said, her eyes closed tightly. Suddenly, there were two more energies joining with them. Two energies they’d never felt before, but they knew exactly who they belonged to. They all turned to stare at Chad and Philip in shock, even as the plane’s flap suddenly shifted, ending the nosedive. The plane slowly leveled out and regained its cruising altitude, and the humans on the plane burst into relieved tears.

  Slowly, they all detached their energies one by one, but they’d stabilized the aircraft. Mickala was the last one to withdraw, and her head was pounding fiercely, her v
ision fading in and out with each heartbeat. She stared at Chad and Philip through narrowed eyes. I will talk to you two whenever I wake up, she said.

  Twenty Six

  Revelations and Questions

  There was an extremely uncomfortable silence during the rest of the flight, and they roused Mickala long enough to get her off the plane and into the waiting car, then again when they got to the hotel. Aiden tucked her into bed, then went into the living room of their suite. Nehela was in the small kitchen, Willow bark tea already brewing. Chad and Philip were standing uneasily beside the door, looking ready to bolt. “You’re demons,” Aiden said. They took a long time to answer, but finally nodded. “And you’ve known about us.”

  “The entire time,” Philip said, fear keeping his voice to a whisper.

  Aiden’s eyes narrowed, and they both swore they saw flashes of gold in them. “You’ve lied to us, this entire time.”

  “We knew about the last demon to trick her,” Chad said.

  “You knew about my brother?” EJ asked, coming to stand in between Ian and Aiden, and the brothers nodded. “Then, why in the love of all things holy didn’t you tell us?”

  “Well, to be perfectly honest, after the showdown with Trey in the lunchroom, then the fight with your half-brother, we really didn’t have the balls to,” Philip said, giving a small half shrug. “Michelle had us figured out at graduation, and she told us we should just come clean and tell you, but we didn’t know how.”

  Ian had his sword out, his knuckles white in their grip on the hilt. ‘Did anyone send you?”

  Chad shook his head quickly. “No. We were in Milton for years before Mickala came. Before EJ and Trey, even.” Aiden glanced at EJ for confirmation, and he nodded. “We knew who she was. I mean, what demon born in the last five thousand years hasn’t heard of Michelle and Mickala? So, we kept a low profile. We’d heard all the same stories as everyone else about the power she possessed, so we had no desire to even be a tiny blip on her demon radar. Then, along came you guys, and suddenly, Milton was chock full of demons a hell of a lot stronger than we were. We had hoped we wouldn’t ever have to tell her, but today, with the plane going down, we didn’t see where we had much of a choice.”