by B C Morgan
I flopped down onto my bed, looking forward to removing myself from my dress but that idea was soon forgotten. All I had done was glance up for a second, but that was all it took to see the figure beginning to build from the shadows once more.
“What the hell are you?” I asked surprising even myself that I hadn’t shouted out that question.
“You do not remember me, Unya that is very disappointing. I have been with you your whole life, trying to protect you from those who would wish you harm. More of a bystander than I wanted, but things are changing now you have come into your own. I will help you become who you were always meant to be, I will lead you right dearie.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” I asked and wondered if this creature could say anything that could reassure me.
“I cannot reassure you, but what I can tell you is, you were never meant to be somebody’s pawn. You could win this war all by yourself and I can help you become ready; I can help you become unnoticeable so you are invisible. You would become a force to be reckoned with and with me by your side, you could bring this world to its knees and then rebuild it the way you want.”
I could feel a part of myself responding to his promises, it seemed and felt wrong but it also felt oh so right. I could rule this world and kill anyone who would dare challenge me, I wasn’t sure if I wanted that, but it sounded fun to at least get to a point where I could.
The creature later told me to call him Adiran, he informed me I would be the only one who could see him. I hadn’t thought to question it, and the more we spoke the more I could feel this dark foreboding sense trying to suffocate me. But the darkness did not scare me, instead it seemed to excite me. Making me wonder what kind of person I had been before I had forgotten.
Adiran convinced me to request a way to relearn my skills, so with that, I went to Hades who had was thrilled by my eagerness to learn.
My teacher wasn’t a patient creature and I was told from the start, if it found an opening to kill me, it would take it. I wasn’t supposed to take that personally; I didn’t but it made me stay on my toes.
Day after day or night, it was hard to tell in the underworld, I returned to my room with various shades of bruising adorning multiple parts of my body.
The day before the teachings took hold was the worst of them by far. I came out of the training area with a broken arm, shattered collarbone, my left knee bending the wrong way and my eye so swollen I couldn’t see a damned thing. The strangest thing though, He hadn’t once drawn blood. Bruised, battered and broken here and there but not a single cut. And the pain was insurmountable, I couldn’t imagine there was ever a time I could have experienced more pain than that in my life!
I wondered if Malachi could help speed up my healing time, but I didn’t have the slightest idea where he had disappeared off to.
After he led me back to my room on the night of that banquet, I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of that insufferable git. Adiran and that weird girl Yana were my only companions, the strange girl was a little psycho and I loved it.
Her eyes had flashed a warning when she took in the state of me, she walked down into the training area and approached my instructor. I’d never taken the time to find out what kind of creature he was, as he looked normal, but it wouldn’t matter anymore.
Yana wasn’t even five foot but when you saw her coming towards you, all you wanted to do was run away and hide.
It sounds crazy I know, she looked like a little kid, but her eyes told a different story.
A crowd began to gather, awaiting the show she would bring.
“You went too far this time cat, but I will fix that!”
She walked over to him, and he began to walk backwards trying to save himself.
“I need to train her, why shouldn’t she learn the same way every other daemon has before?” He asked, trying to prove himself as the fearless creature he could never be.
“Because you never said please. You didn’t come to me kitty; you didn’t ask ever so nicely to hurt my hybrid. But you will ask please in a moment, you’ll be screaming it!”
A smile spread across her face, showing too many teeth. Her eyes were gleaming and her cheeks were flushed, she was giddy with excitement.
“Please mistress, I’m sorry.”
Yana didn’t stop her pursuit, but her enjoyment turned to anger with his next words.
“I don’t want to die,” he was begging, his throat choking on his words as he stammered over every single one he uttered.
She jumped, throwing herself at him, he didn’t just stand there and wait for the inevitable instead he began to transform.
His mouth began to elongate and fur began to spread across his skin, his hands began to shift until they resembled paws, finishing with sharp claws.
He wasn’t a wolf, but a sleek black panther, such a beautiful creature, and I couldn’t understand how such a small little girl could stand a chance against him.
It only took mere seconds for his transformation to complete and by the time she reached him, he was already waiting. He hit her with one of his paws, sending her flying back under the full force of the strength he had put behind it.
She hit the floor hard, blackened dirt exploding up from the point of contact. All of us onlookers just stared, with bated breath, waiting to see how she would react to this turn of events.
She rolled over onto her back, with her hands clutching her stomach. I was worrying, until the sound of hysterical laughter filtered up through the air, everyone began to shift on the spot. None of us knew what was happening, there was one being amongst us, a female, who didn’t seem too surprised, but I soon forgot about her.
Yana flipped herself up onto her feet, still laughing; less hysterical and more manic now.
“You will hiss in a moment kitty, I hope you can still scream in this form, let’s find out together.”
The panther lifted his paw, his sharp claws glinting in the light. She didn’t even try to avoid the blow as it slammed into her cheek, marring her skin.
Instead of trying to move away, she clutched his paw in her little hands, somehow preventing him from pulling it away. She pulled it with her as she threw herself around and landed on his back.
His paw was bent at an unnatural angle and it was making him wimpier.
“No kitty, I want to hear you SCREAM!” She was losing her cool as she screamed at him. One of her arms was slinking around his neck as she pulled her dagger out of, well I have no idea where it came from so we’ll just say, thin air.
She thrust it into his back and his mewls grew louder and louder, until she flipped him onto his back and castrated the, as she would say, kitty.
He turned back into his human form and his screams were louder than the usual ones that filled the air down here.
He was crying fat, ugly tears that wouldn’t stop streaming down his face.
“Good kitty isn’t it better when we all play together nicely,” she said as she patted his cheek and brushed stray hairs out of his face.
She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before slamming her knife into his stomach and pulled the knife down, splitting him open for all the onlookers to see.
Most were licking their lips in hunger, whether for the blood or the organs themselves, it was hard to say but Yana was finished with her lesson.
“Come now my beautiful monsters, feast on his flesh, blood, whatever takes your fancy. Do as you wish, as long as you make him scream. When he stops, throw him into the lava and return to your usual duties.”
She brushed her hands together, as she walked towards me.
“My poor little hybrid, come now, your favourite person will make you all better,” she sent me a sweet smile and her nickname of little psycho would forever be set in stone.
I couldn’t believe he was gone, I mean I was glad it had been him and not my little psycho and the brutality of it called to a deeper, darker part of myself. I guessed all I could do was hope my next instructor wouldn’t offend he
r so easily.
It turned out my new instructor was a better fit, and I was soon brandishing dual wielded daggers like a pro. I wasn’t fond of the swords or any of the other long reach weapons, it seemed too impersonal to me.
The only exception was the bow and throwing stars/knives, it was amazing knowing that I could pierce a foe’s throat from a distance greater than a stone’s throw away.
After I mastered the hand to hand combat, as well as I could, Adiran began to describe a way for me to hide in plain sight. It even included being able to travel to new destinations, and all I had to do was connect with the shadows within the room. I found that one hard, which seemed to frustrate Adiran.
I couldn’t understand why my lack of skill would affect him so, but it didn’t seem important enough to ask him about it. Besides, he only seemed willing to discuss what he wanted, whether or not I had any interest was irrelevant to him.
The next time I was summoned to Hades was four weeks after the banquet and I still hadn’t seen Malachi, clearly he had been avoiding me. It was hard for me to figure out why, but Hades was soon to offer me an out from my engagement.
“How are you settling in Unya, I hear from your instructor they no longer feel the need to continue your training. Does that mean your memories have resurfaced?” He had been trying to act nonchalant, but I could see the strain around his eyes, which hinted he was worried about that outcome.
“No my lord, nothing of the sort I’m afraid. It became a lot easier for me to pick up, once Yana disposed of my previous instructor,” I replied, followed by a quick bow.
“I have noticed you haven’t been spending a lot of time with Malachi of late, I hope you two haven’t fallen out. Although if that is the case I have a fine substitute, if you would prefer.”
There was a glint of something sinister in his eyes, when he spoke of a substitute. It made me nervous, but I was careful to keep my emotions shrouded from his detection. Maybe this other guy would be a better fit, but I hadn’t been able to shake the sense I would learn to regret it, if I were to take Hades up on his offer.
“Everything is fine between us my lord, I have been busy on becoming acquainted with this life. I must admit though, I have been wondering since our first meeting, where my parents were. Surely they would want to see me, wouldn’t they?”
I noticed his bodyguard stand to attention at my question, he also shot me a curious look, but I didn’t get enough time to decipher what it meant.
“I am sorry child, but both your parents are no longer with us. Your mother killed herself, damning herself to an existence of a shade. As for your father, he was killed when Lawson tried to kill me. It was a great loss and I had not wanted to burden you with the knowledge, until you were ready.”
His story felt false to me, but I did not want to argue with him, knowing that course of action to be unwise. I did not understand at that moment what my future had in store for me, all I knew was, for a little while at least, I was at his mercy.
By the time another week passed I was bored, Adiran was not entertaining and Malachi was still a no show. I wasn’t sure what it was I desired to do, until a human like creature entered my room with a tray full of food.
“For you miss, courtesy of Malachi,” he said, barely looking me in the eyes.
I walked over to him and wondered just what kind of creature he was, I don’t know what came over me but I was cupping his cheek with my hand. His eyes became glazed and almost vacant looking, as he just stood there staring straight through me.
“Did Malachi send this food?” I asked, not trusting anything at face value.
“Yes, he said I had to come straight here and I was not to stop for anything,” he replied, sounding almost eager.
It was almost as though he wanted to please me, but the minute I took my hand away he snapped back to his senses and began to back track towards the door.
I snapped his hand into mine, and the glazed look soon returned. Turning towards Adiran, he informed me I could command the male species. I’ll admit it aggravated me that he only deemed it noteworthy to tell me that then, but I let it slide, at least for the time being.
I told the male to wrap his arms around my waist, which he did. Although he must have had some hidden strength within him, as it grew hard to catch my breath.
With a quick order, he released his hold before answering my next command with a toe curling kiss.
I’ll admit it lacked the heat and passion that Malachi had induced within me, with just one simple kiss and I soon found I didn’t enjoy kissing this being. It was then that Adiran came up with a suggestion to curb my boredom and although I thought about it for a moment, I decided I wasn’t ready for that kind of cure.
6
Malachi
It was obvious I was avoiding Unya, but I would not admit it to myself. I was finding it difficult, even painful to be around her. She didn’t seem all that different, but having to lead her to believe we were together was doing crazy things to my frazzled heart.
I had been driving myself mad going over it in my head, again and again. But what else could I have done, I didn’t want to hurt her and I knew I needed to protect her. The issue was, knowing she was only with me through deceit, made me feel wrong inside. It’s ironic, what made me an incubus, was the one thing I hated where she was concerned.
I decided to man up and face her, it was obvious she would want to know why I had been avoiding her for so long. The only thing was, I had no idea just what I was about to walk into.
Soon I was knocked on her door, but no answer came from within. I was tempted to go inside anyway, but I couldn’t invade her privacy like that.
I tried one more time, a little louder than necessary, but I was feeling frustrated.
It had been impossible to sleep when she had fallen into her coma state, and it hadn’t improved since she had awoken.
“Leave the lass alone Malachi, you were doing a splendid job of it up until now,” came the smart arsed remark out of Troy’s mouth.
I knew he would try to pull something, the moment he saw her up on stage singing in that club. But her obvious distaste for him, put him off even attempting to get on her good side.
She didn’t remember that unfortunate meeting and he thought she was fair game.
“Stay away from her Troy, this is the only time I will say it nicely.”
“Whatever you say mate, but if she takes a liking to me then it’s out of my hands. See you around Mal.”
He was a loose cannon, always had been but he grew worse when I stopped killing. He saw it as a weakness, I was a disgrace to our kind. Not that he was an official incubus anyway, damn hybrid.
I realised he was right though, I had done nothing but ignore Unya since she woke up, did I really think she would welcome me back with open arms.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Unya’s voice, followed by Yana. I wished she hadn’t fallen in with her, but I could add that to the list of all the ways I had screwed up since Unya returned to the land of the living.
“What are you doing here?” Asked Unya, and she did not look happy to see me in the slightest.
“I wanted to apologise for not being around much these past few months, I just needed some time to sort my head out.”
“Save it Malachi, you didn’t care enough to help me adjust. I don’t know a single damn thing about this place, other than what is written in the books, and the same can be said for the creatures. You needed to sort your head out, well try losing your memories and maybe then I would accept that you had a point.”
“Please Love, I need to make this up to you, I’m here now. Why don’t we go for a walk maybe even stop at the training area for a bit of sparring,” I suggested, hoping she wouldn’t flat out refuse me.
She stood there pondering for a minute, before accepting my offer. I was about to regret that decision, but as they say, hindsight is a bitch.
There were a few daemons sparring when we arrived, the winner
was the one who was still, for all intent and purpose, alive.
We watched the carnage for a little while, the usual beheadings, impaling and standard torture techniques, before Unya became restless.
We took a spot for ourselves, I picked up a katana, while she chose two long and sharp bladed knives.
I went easy on her to begin with, until she stepped it up without any warning.
She sidestepped around me and before I could raise a defence, one of her daggers was thrust into a slot between two of my ribs.
It shocked me that she tried to hurt me, was she hoping for us to fight to the death, because I wasn’t willing to end her life just to save mine. Once upon a time, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but I’ve worked hard not to be that monster anymore and I wanted it to stay that way.
That being said, I wasn’t against teaching her just how sharp my sword was.
I twisted on my heel and thrust my sword out and it punctured her stomach, with no resistance.
Her eyes widened as her hands went down to her stomach, I pulled the sword out of her and witnessed the moment the blade disintegrated.
We both stood there, pretty much in awe over what just transpired. But we were soon startled to see her blood, similar to a thick viscous type liquid, eat its way through the ground.
Smoke floated up from where the ground disappeared, neither of us knew what to say but we needed to get her patched up before her blood destroyed anything else.
I approached her slowly, being sure to avoid her toxic life force. Her eyes met mine and she swallowed hard as she stemmed to devour my very being. They appeared heavy, as her tongue darted out past her lips, before pulling her bottom lip in and biting it ever so slightly.
My blood began to pump faster as my heartbeat sped up and a strong desire to be biting that lip myself overcame me.
Her hands came up around my neck, before ending at the nape. She curled her fingers into my hair and pulled my head down to meet hers.