by Tod Langley
4
The Defiant Demon
“I may be used by evil, but Ferral is evil, and much crueler,” the demon said as she strode down the hall away from Ferral.
The demon thought she was brought into this world to guide and control Ferral. She now sensed she was a pawn in a much larger game. One that seems to go on forever, the demon reminded herself. The demon found it hard to accept her role in Ferral’s schemes and wondered if her fate would ever be revealed.
Will I suffer like this forever? Am I really evil or am I being controlled by evil? she asked.
The demon smiled bitterly.
“It’s a little of both, I suppose,” she said.
“I hate Ferral,” the demon swore aloud.
“But I hate myself more,” she whispered.
The demon had killed Allisia’s father because she had been commanded to. Ferral wanted his enemies destroyed as soon as possible so that he could focus on his grander schemes. It was nearly impossible for the demon to oppose Ferral’s will now. The demon had never defied Belatarn before, and he wanted Ferral to succeed. She despised them both but knew that refusing either Ferral or Belatarn meant humiliation and pain beyond anything a mortal mind could comprehend.
Besides, the King of Duellr and his family meant little to the demon. She was the warrior of darkness and the champion of the evil forces that wanted to destroy the world.
When Belatarn sent the demon out to destroy, her hatred at being a minion of Hell empowered the monster within her with superhuman strength. The demon had torn the weak King of Duellr apart in front of his children and subjects showing everyone gathered the power of both her worldly and other-worldly masters. She had also killed Allisia’s brother, a young and insignificant man, freezing Justan and the Duellrian army on the road as they marched toward Ferral’s citadel. The demon was alive with awesome power and ancient hatred, and yet, she could not help but take pity upon Allisia, the heir to the Duellrian throne.
Kristian’s betrothed.
Ferral’s prize.
The demon had the power to defeat any mortal. She could raise legions of the dead and command those she raised, but there remained a human part of the demon that still felt sorrow and grief. She tried to bury her past beneath centuries of hatred and servitude to her dark master. The demon had, at least, succeeded in burying those memories that would destroy her mind and soul if she thought about them for too long. Now, after centuries of serving the dark purposes of Hell, there was little left of the demon that had once been human, but for some reason, she still clung to a shadow of her mortal past.
“Who was I?” the demon often asked. If the answer was locked away within her mind, then it was buried too deep for her to ever find again. The demon had searched for the answers to her enslavement for a thousand years and nothing she had done or seen had ever reminded her of her former life.
Occasionally, the beautiful demon comforted the princess; when she wanted to feel more human, when she wanted to remove the stain of her sins. It helped balance the cruel treatment Allisia received from Ferral, who took great pleasure in tormenting the princess physically and mentally. The sorcerer-king liked to torment Allisia by playing out twisted mind games on the young girl, promising the princess she would not be mistreated, and then terrifying her with his unnatural creations. Sometimes, Ferral would beat the princess, but most of the time the mad man preferred torturing Allisia’s mind.
The demon would never be able to make Allisia understand her reasons for having to kill. She did not understand the reasons herself. If she was meant to be a demon with the power to destroy thousands, then why did Belatarn make her feel the suffering of every person she killed? How could the demon revel in her evil powers one moment and try to ease the suffering of those she harmed the next? The demon constantly fought these emotions, the conflicts threatening to tear her apart. Knowing her enemies despised her as a hideous monster made it even more unbearable.
How much comfort can I give to someone who hates and fears me? the demon asked.
This must be a part of my Hell. Part of my punishment, she thought.
“What could I have done to deserve this?” the demon cried out. Then she looked around to make sure no one had heard her outburst. The demon struggled to remember even just one fragment of what her life must have been like, but no one called down from Heaven to remind the demon of her transgressions.
The demon tried to forget about the young princess, pushing the tortured girl’s sad stare out of her mind. Her thoughts went instead to the mysterious man that accompanied Kristian, the young cavalier from Erand. The demon had not known his name or why she was even drawn to the cavalier. When she had the opportunity to kill the man, the demon half of her had resisted its primal urge to tear the cavalier apart, something she could never control before. He stood defiantly before her in the Duellrian palace, prepared to die protecting Kristian. The cavalier had the same stare on his face as all the others, one of terror and loathing. Yet, like few others, the cavalier held his ground. The man’s face and mannerisms seemed familiar to the demon, and in that instant, she knew she could not kill the man, the cavalier that traveled with Kristian.
The demon had thought little more of him except in pleasurable daydreaming until the night the cavalier stood beneath Belarna’s black walls. As defiant as before, and just as willing to die for what he believed in, the young man burned down the wooden doors, personally challenging Ferral. The demon had seen Ferral’s anger at the cavalier’s actions and it made her smile. Through the night, as the Army of the Dead destroyed all those it encountered, she had flown across the battlefield watching over the mysterious soldier. During the hours of battle that followed the burning of the gate, she had learned his name.
“Mikhal,” the demon gasped, full of electrifying emotion.
The sound of his name filled the demon’s mind with the buzzing voices of prophets, but she disregarded them. A powerful force was drawing the demon and Mikhal together, and the chance of seeing the cavalier again excited her.
She had also seen how Mikhal protected Kristian, even though the fool did not deserve it. The demon would have killed the sniveling, young prince then, had Ferral ordered it, but the sorcerer-king had wanted the boasting Erandian to see his army destroyed, and to know Allisia would forever be a captive within these walls. Ferral had caused the terrible storm that had blinded his enemies as Kristian made his last stand on the hill overlooking Belarna, but the demon had kept the dead at bay long enough for Mikhal and Kristian to escape.
It had only been for a few moments, the sun had been about to rise and she knew what would happen. The demon used her own powers to hold the dead back from Mikhal’s hiding place until the creatures fell lifeless to the ground. Yet, her power alone had not saved Mikhal.
Something else, perhaps God or Fate, had also intervened. Mikhal deserved some measure of divine intervention. The cavalier had sworn to protect his prince despite everything that had happened, proving his loyalty and duty to ideals much bigger than himself.
In some way, the demon had formed a connection with Allisia, Mikhal, and the new Erandian king, Kristian. They all hated Ferral and would do whatever they could to destroy him. That gave the demon common cause with her enemies. The demon feared she would suffer an eternity of pain if Ferral failed their master.
Surely, I can do something to make the scales more balanced, she thought, desperately.
Kristian seemed determined to prove himself anew, to become a better man and leader. The demon laughed at the absurdity of it, but then she stopped.
Kristian certainly seems destined to confront Ferral again, she admitted. The demon did not care about the Erandian king or his troubles, but she was bound to Ferral, just as the sorcerer was bound to her, through the will of their dark master.
The important question is whether Kristian will ever be reunited with Allisia? Who will win the fight over her? Ferral or Kristian?
“Poor girl,�
� the demon said, “having to rely on such men.”
But if there were a way to help Allisia, she wondered, wanting to test the boundaries of Ferral’s control over her. An image of a man and a fishing boat suddenly entered the demon’s mind. She was not certain where the image came from but sensed a greater power at work. The force of the will behind the image almost made her weep. The demon bowed her head in sad acknowledgement.
“I will find a way,” the demon promised. She smiled, her new commitment giving her feelings both exhilarating and frightening. The demon was pleased at her new resolve to defy Ferral even if it meant angering their master.