Demon World

by Balvir Bhullar

  ‘Lillian?’ whispered Lady Enid, her voice hoarse and barely managing to get the words out past the lump in her throat. Though she was in a state of shock, she managed to hold back the hot tears threatening to break the floodgates. She could not afford to lose it now and break down; the lives of these children were in her hands. Oh, she knew they were adults, but in her mind they were children who had barely even lived. After all, what was seventy years to an immortal — nothing.

  ‘Mother,’ said Lillian, her voice also quiet. Mother, she had never thought to utter that word again. Now here she was before her, and there was so much that she wanted to say; but she dare not say any more. Of course, it didn’t help that Evelyn stood beside her, and the fact that they were in a hall of demons with exceptional hearing. She would have to be smart and play it by ear.

  ‘Come, Your Majesty, this way,’ said Evelyn, escorting her to the throne.

  Lady Enid stood before the demons, then regally took her rightful seat, her back straight. Her mind worked at a furious pace as to what she could legally do within the scope of the law to get them freed without a death sentence. At the moment it looked hopeless, but she would be damned if she let her daughter die a second time without lifting a finger.

  Lady Enid knew her responsibilities towards her people, and could not do anything that would cause an uproar, and there was also Earth to consider. How she hated the fact that her hands were tied down in politics, but even so, there had to be another way. She was beyond anger, a fury that knew no bounds raged within her, as she realised that the woman next to her was the real traitor of Demon World. She looked at her standing there smugly, even having the nerve to smile at her knowingly.

  Lady Enid realised that Evelyn knew exactly what she was doing, and was counting on the fact that she would behave as a ruler, not as a mother. She turned her gaze onto Driskell. Ah, yes, the defiant demon who dared to pass the judgment of death upon my only child. It was a small mercy that he was kneeling before her: passing her sentence of death upon him would be easy. He openly stared contemptuously at her with hatred. Well, at least now he had dropped all pretence.

  Driskell loathed Lady Enid with a passion, and she was the one who was ultimately responsible for Lillian’s death. He would bide his time before he challenged her. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat as before him stood the very person that he had damned himself for — Lillian! A plethora of emotions ran through him, threatening to rend him apart. He smiled manically as he looked at her in wonder. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe I’m not damned, after all, he thought. She is before me, isn’t she?

  Although he was uncertain of how she now perceived him, he still nevertheless held onto a sliver of hope for redemption. In a soft voice, he spoke hesitantly, ‘Lillian? But how is this possible, how are you here?’ asked Driskell.

  ‘Don’t even presume to talk to me. You are a worthless excuse for a demon,’ replied Lillian menacingly. She rushed towards him, intending to rip him limb from limb, but was brought to a standstill by the sound of Rowanne recoiling silently in pain. She turned to the guard who dared to hurt Rowanne, and looked at him with deadly intent. To her satisfaction, he flinched and took a step back, finally realising who she was.

  It was nice to see that they had not completely forgotten her. There had been a collective intake of breath as the demons realised that none other than Lillian Morning Star was being marched before them. They were shocked and confused by the arrival of their former princess long thought to be dead. They wondered how she had come back from Prima Stella, and consequently looked up at her in equal parts of fear and wonder. Lillian held back her laughter as she defiantly looked them in the eyes: at the people she had known long ago — her people.

  Lillian could feel them wanting to kneel before her, but unsure of how they should proceed. They had probably assumed that they were walking into a straightforward case: that of a human hybrid, who would most likely be sentenced to death alongside her maker; the demon, who had dared to convert her. However, they had got a lot more, for before them stood the very people they had least expected, and on the wrong side of the law...

  Amanda had no idea what was happening, but she recognised Evelyn - the evil vindictive woman who had blasted her off her feet in the hopes of killing her. She dearly wanted to go up against her, to show her that she was not so easily defeated.

  ‘Driskell, I thought I had gotten rid of this half breed... It seems we are beset and overrun with them. This is a problem. You see, my lady, Earth is full of these... ‘things’ for lack of a better word,’ said Evelyn.

  Evelyn went to Alexander, who took the arm she proffered, and together they faced the hall. ‘My dear Lords and Ladies, I present to you the scourge of our world. These half breeds born of the immoral union between demons and the loathed humans will prove a threat to our very existence,’ said Evelyn.

  Evelyn was pleased as she looked out upon her future; she would rule these demons. They would look to her to enforce the law. And enforce it she would, to the hilt. There was a look of hatred on the demons’ faces as they shouted, ‘Kill the half breeds.’ The hall resonated with their death tones.

  Alexander outwardly smiled, baring his teeth at the crowd of demons below. He leaned in close to Evelyn’s ear, and whispered, ‘I don’t care what happens to this lot, but you promised her to me...’

  Evelyn turned towards him, and saw the glacial green power swirl dangerously in his eyes; a fire raged internally within the dark depths of his soul. She needed to get rid of him, especially now that she was so close to her goal. If giving him her childhood friend was the price, then she was more than willing to pay. To hell with Lillian.

  She looked at him, and nodded imperceptibly, and his smile widened. She turned her back to the demons and led him to Lillian.

  Alexander stood before her. There were many things he wanted to say, but not here, not right now. ‘Come, my love. It’s been a while...’ he smiled at her feverishly, as confusion and uncertainty chased across her delicate face.

  ‘Alexander?’ asked Lillian. She didn’t like the manic way in which he stared at her; he seemed like a demon possessed.

  ‘What’s going on, Lillian? What’s wrong with him?’ asked Rowanne. She could clearly see that for Alexander, nobody else existed within this great hall except Lillian. There was a coldness in his eyes.

  Lillian dared not take her eyes off the demented demon before her. ‘I think it’s Evelyn, she’s done something to him.’

  Evelyn laughed quietly, causing Rowanne and Lillian to swivel their heads in her direction.

  ‘Let him go, right now!’ demanded Rowanne.

  Evelyn found the whole thing tedious, and looking out at the crowd of demons, she suddenly clicked her fingers, causing a green mist to descend upon the hall.

  Rowanne watched in astonishment as Evelyn’s eyes burned with a greenish black energy. She had frozen the entire hall. All of the demons including the guards were like statues. Bizarrely all of their eyes were closed, and their heads down; they looked like an army sleeping — a deadly one, that could attack as soon as the command was given.

  ‘How is this possible?’ asked Lillian. She could not believe how powerful a demon Evelyn had become; this by all accounts should be impossible.

  Evelyn looked at her, and shrugged. ‘So now you’re impressed? Like I said, a lot has changed since your departure. I’ve changed...’

  ‘Evelyn!’ said Alexander impatiently, clenching his fists, trying to keep a grip on what little sanity he had left.

  ‘Oh, you,’ said Evelyn disdainfully to Alexander. ‘Take her already,’ completely oblivious of the look of shock on the people still standing on the stage.

  Lady Enid was disgusted with the spectacle unfolding before her. Now that the demons were frozen, she was no longer bound by her duty. She walked up to Evelyn, and put the full force of her pain into the resounding slap that knocked Evelyn off her feet and sent her crashing to the floor.

&
nbsp; ‘Who the hell do you think you are to give away my daughter as if she’s worth nothing? You, my dear, are sadly in denial if you thought that you ever meant anything to me.’

  Alexander didn’t waste any more time as he realised that the situation was rapidly going out of his hands. ‘I beg your pardon, Your Majesty.’ Lady Enid was bewildered by his strange behaviour, and kept her eyes fixed on him.

  ‘Get away from my daughter, Alexander!’ ordered Lady Enid.

  ‘Who is this ‘Alexander’ you keep referring to?’ he asked contemptuously. Turning to Lillian, he said, ‘You and I, my love, have unfinished business...’ his eyes burned as they gazed obsessively into hers.

  Lillian averted her eyes; if she had looked any longer, she might have drowned in the intensity of emotions that seemed to overwhelm him. To her utter astonishment, he had used her momentary distraction to snake his arm around her waist, and spun them straight out of the hall. The only thing left behind was a scorch mark on the floor to indicate that they had ever been there.

  ‘Lillian!’ shouted Rowanne. She had not been able to do anything as her hands were bound behind her back.

  ‘Two down — the rest of you shall follow,’ said Evelyn, dusting down her dress.

  Lady Enid grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up in the air. ‘Where did he take my daughter?’ her voice was cold, and her energy flared a deadly violet; there was a promise of death in the electrically charged air.

  ‘Release me and I will answer. Then perhaps we can discuss this like civilised demons. And before you get ahead of yourself, let me remind you that it won’t take me two seconds to unfreeze them. Then, by all means, you can try to explain everything to them,’ replied Evelyn arrogantly.

  ‘You think they would not listen to their Queen?’ asked Lady Enid.

  Evelyn looked into her eyes, and replied with a question of her own, ‘Do you really believe your position as Queen is as secure as you’d like to think it is?’

  ‘What are you implying?’ asked Lady Enid.

  ‘I find the lack of oxygen to my brain makes me forget. Where is Lillian? It’s all becoming a blur-’ Evelyn was cut off, as Lady Enid let go of her. Her legs jarred as she landed painfully on her feet. She massaged her neck, her throat sore; she’d make her pay for that.

  ‘Well, I’m waiting. Get on with it,’ said Lady Enid.

  While Evelyn was occupied with Lady Enid, Rowanne used the opportunity to slowly edge closer to Driskell and Amanda. Finally she stood back to back with Amanda, and quickly untied the rope that had been binding her. How she managed, she had no idea; it was like her hands suddenly knew what to do.

  Amanda nursed her sore wrists - the rope had bitten into them, leaving behind angry red marks. She turned to Driskell, who looked defeated, as if he fully expected them to leave him where he was.

  ‘Rowanne?’ asked Amanda quietly.

  ‘I’ll leave it in your hands. It’s your decision to make, after all...’ she said solemnly. Rowanne realised that Driskell was starting to become Amanda’s responsibility, and she had a faraway look in her eyes, as if she were suddenly privy to visions that others could not see.

  Amanda watched in fascination as Rowanne’s green eyes started to change to violet, and suddenly the cuffs snapped off of their own accord as they fell to the ground. I can’t believe I didn’t realise it before... here I was worried that Rowanne shouldn’t learn of Demon World and the Knight family legacy; turns out, cousin dearest is also a half demon just like me.

  Rowanne grabbed Amanda’s hand and looked at her intently, observing the green fire deep within her eyes. She laughed, ‘It seems like we have a lot to talk about, once this is through! Go help him... Cousin,’ she smiled warmly as Amanda’s eyes widened in surprise.

  ‘Rowanne, how did you know, and what’s happened to you?’ asked Amanda. This had seriously thrown her off balance; there was more to Rowanne than she could ever have conceived of.

  Driskell cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him, ‘We haven’t got time for your family reunion. I could do with a bit of help over here,’ he said dryly.

  Amanda quickly set about helping him, and with one tug she managed to open the rope, as he winced from the force of it. ‘What did you expect?’ she asked irritably.

  ‘Nothing more, nothing less,’ he replied, smiling intriguingly at her. He liked his warrior woman’s strength.

  She hated the way he seemed to turn every situation to his benefit, and wanted to throttle him accordingly, as well as wipe the smirk of his face.

  Driskell stepped closer to her, nursing his wrist. ‘I make you nervous... I affect you more than you care to admit...’ he whispered boldly. He especially appreciated her blue eyes smouldering dangerously at him.

  Rowanne left them to it as she made her way back to Lady Enid, and stood beside her, secure in the knowledge that the two of them could work something out, and probably fight, if it came down to it.

  Evelyn loathed the sight of Driskell smiling at that half breed of a girl, and summoned her soldiers to form behind them. She watched as the Shadows took on the form of people.

  Rowanne didn’t trust the dark look that had suddenly come into Evelyn’s eyes, and quickly glanced back. Amanda and Driskell were oblivious to what was happening just behind them.

  ‘Look out,’ screamed Rowanne, just as the first soldier thrust his sword towards Amanda.

  Driskell quickly turned, and managed to deflect the blade with his bare hand in the nick of time.

  Amanda watched the blood trickle down his hand, as the demons began to form into a semi circle, intending to cut them down savagely.

  Driskell grabbed Amanda with his good hand, and ran.

  She tried unsuccessfully to pull her hand out of his, but it was no use as Driskell seemed to be focused with deadly precision on getting them out of the hall.

  ‘Stop! What do you think you’re doing? We can’t just abandon them to those monsters. We have to stay and fight!’ pleaded Amanda; but it fell on deaf ears.

  Driskell replied gruffly, ‘You can’t help Rowanne if you’re dead. Anyway, they’re following us, we need to lead them away from her. Then you can let loose as much as you want to on them. I’ll even help, if you permit me to!’ he laughed madly.

  ‘Great, I’m shackled to a mad man,’ she said under her breath.

  ‘It could have been worse...’ he said. I could have kissed you... and then where would we have ended up...? he whispered audaciously in her mind, and winked at her. Before she could reply, he hurtled her unceremoniously through the large doors.

  That was the last that Rowanne saw of them, being chased by a score of Shadow soldiers at their heels. She felt sick to her stomach as she pondered how to fight something insubstantial yet powerful enough to rip a person to shreds. She prayed that Amanda and Driskell would work together long enough to fight the demons off.

  God only knew where Alexander had taken Lillian. They’d need Evelyn alive if there was any chance of discovering them, as well as freeing Alexander’s mind out of her control.

  Rowanne put a restraining hand on Lady Enid’s arm, just as she was about to throw the full force of her power at Evelyn.

  ‘We need her to find out where they are,’ she said gently.

  ‘So, I’m to be saved by a half breed of all things,’ said Evelyn contemptuously.

  ‘Rowanne is the only person keeping you alive. You cannot even conceive of what I have planned for the one who tortured and killed my child,’ she said in a strong voice, as she beat her chest with her hand, no longer able to control the violent emotions that wanted to tear their way out of her heart.

  ‘You speak like a mother should, or should that be a “so-called mother”,’ said Evelyn sarcastically.

  ‘Don’t you dare presume to think that you know me. You have no idea what your actions have cost me!’ said Lady Enid bitterly.

  ‘Don’t make me laugh with that act! What kind of a mother stands by and watches while h
er daughter burns to death?’ asked Evelyn triumphantly.

  Rowanne wanted to defend Lady Enid, but sensed that perhaps the best way she could support her was by listening - maybe then, she’d find a way out of this. Evelyn might let slip something which they could use in this Noble Court they kept speaking of. In this way, they could finally bring Lillian the justice she so rightly deserved. Alexander was definitely rubbing off on her, as she could almost imagine him telling her to: ‘Use your brain, Rowanne, and bide your time.’

  Lady Enid stepped back as if she had been struck, as Rowanne stopped her from stumbling. She looked briefly with gratitude at the human woman beside her, who lent her strength by her very presence. Rowanne could have run away and saved herself, or even have gone after Alexander, but instead she had stayed back, not wanting to leave her alone. Lady Enid was more touched than Rowanne would ever know; in a way it was like having her daughter with her. Although it was bizarre that this thought should enter her mind.

  ‘How pathetic. You need a human to support you. You are in no way fit to be a ruler. I admit, though, that I admired you for a while. Especially the way you let Lillian die, so that the clan of Morning Star could continue to rule.’

  ‘You are very much mistaken, if you think I’d let my daughter die for the love of politics. I am in no way worthy of your false praise,’ said Lady Enid disgustedly.

  ‘Very well, lie to yourself if it helps you to sleep better at night... However, the truth is that we are more alike, than you’d care to admit. We both want power no matter the cost. What are other people’s lives worth? Nothing. You wanted to remain queen, so, bon voyage daughter and good riddance!’ Evelyn laughed cruelly, watching Lady Enid’s power gather around her. She’d struck a nerve, but was she scared? No. After all, politics was not the domain of the timid.

  ‘It was not like that...’ said Lady Enid through gritted teeth.

  ‘I’ve done the same thing myself; gotten rid of a few nuisances. What’s a death now and again between colleagues?’ she asked coldly. ‘It’s the world we inhabit. We play the great game that is life, and the rise to the top was always going to involve a few casualties. Unavoidable I’m afraid.’