The Demon's Return

by Selva, SK

  Karnan thought of the dwarves who had been reduced to less than twenty members and a small section in the great city of Kurunji. They would be better off focusing on finding more children with the dwarf gene and rebuilding their clan. It would not be worth the risk to further decimate their numbers.

  The glory of the games could leave even the most logical of creatures drunk with ambition. What was a bit of risk when eternal glory could be at stake?

  “The games will always continue to be a tradition,” King Nahusha intoned. “Coming here is a treat every few years for this spectacle. Going back to the human world the rest of time is a great deal to ask of you, and I am grateful for your willingness. Since you all carry the ancient genes from your respective ancestral creatures long thought to be forgotten or mythical, we ask that you assimilate accordingly.”

  Karnan chanced a glance at Yachana. As the youngest member of the Council of Elders, he knew her seat was the one that would be targeted.

  “Our history has been captured on the Great Vayil, and we have been kept secret from the human world for all time. Of course, there have been several close calls throughout the years, and I sternly advise everyone against starting another tragedy, since you will be caught and punished accordingly.”

  The mood shifted as quickly as when the king had announced his presence. Every creature, new or old, small or big, knew exactly what he was speaking of. The silence was louder than a hundred dragons flying.

  “Now that we are all warned, let us move on to some happier topics. New creatures. My brothers and sisters, we have young adults and children in the human world carrying our ancient genes. You have all been blessed with a map that will lead you to them. It is their ancient right to be allowed passage into this world. I implore you all to go searching for them so that we can show them the beauty of our land. We are all Ilemurians and will forever be bound together by our ancestors. The ancient dragons welcomed you all here when you had nowhere to go, and tradition has allowed us to continually do the same. We must work together to ensure the continued storied history of our land.”

  “Hear, hear!” shouted Yachana. Another cheer echoed through the chamber.

  Roshna thought of her map and remembered the three new unicorns she was excited to meet. The joy on their faces when they walked into Ilemuria for the first time was something she always cherished with new visitors. Karnan knew his clan was aging, and bringing in new blood was always beneficial.

  “With all that being said, if there are no further questions, I bid you all farewell. The entrances for all creatures will be open in a fortnight. Council, please stay behind.”

  “For Ilemuria!” repeated the room.

  The non-council creatures looked wistfully at the stage as they began to depart, dreaming of taking a seat for their clan.

  The curtains pulled shut as King Nahusha once again took his throne and faced his powerful council.

  “I trust you are all set for the land’s return and the games. I have grown accustomed to most of you and do not wish to have to forge relations with different council members,” he said with a smile.

  “I do not see any of the clans being able to best our six spots this time around, Raja,” said Hemadri. “Some of our seats have not been usurped in many tries.”

  “The centaur streak does not break,” said Karnan.

  “I surmised as much, my dear Karnan,” said the king. “Also, the Yonder Gates to the five villages will be opened on schedule. Please make sure you are keeping your subjects safe.”

  The Council of Elders thanked the king graciously, dreaming of the moment they could return home.

  “There is a more pressing matter I wish to discuss, though, my friends.”

  The centaur leader raised an eyebrow. The king is persistent with this.

  “It will be a long time before any of us forget the close call from years before,” he began.

  Karnan could see the troll leader grip his chair with all his might.

  “Are we really going to discuss this again, Raja?” Hemadri asked abruptly.

  “We are,” the king declared.

  “There is no need. Our answer is still no,” he responded..

  “Do not speak for me,” Yachana said aloud. “I want to know what the king has to say.”

  “We should never speak about it!” spat Hemadri.

  “To not speak of it is to ignore the history and lose the lessons we have learned,” King Nahusha calmly noted. “There are those who are unaware of what happened forty years ago, and we must do our best to educate them.”

  Yachana looked around curiously, not afraid of Hemadri’s outburst at all. She had heard rumors of what had happened, but none of the older generation liked to talk about it.

  “King Nahusha speaks the truth,” said Charak, speaking up for the first time. “Though we elves have just won our way back onto the council, we remember our history.”

  “I have been doing a great deal of thinking, young warrior,” said the king. “Our charter has always said all Ilemurians have a right to the land. Entire generations of creatures have passed. I am going to allow any young demon that has never set foot in our land a chance.”

  Hemadri stood up faster than being told his favorite dinner was ready.

  “That is unacceptable, My Lord. You have given this same speech for the last decade. Almost everyone here fought bravely. You can moan about having lost a clan all you want, but we have lost our own members too. You, yourself, banished the demons all those years ago, and for good reason. I will not agree to this! Not now, not ever!” he thundered.

  “There has not been a demon in this land since the tragedy, and I intend to keep it that way,” shouted Ubhay.

  “Why not?” asked Yachana. “King Nahusha is not saying bring them all back, just any new young ones. Why should they suffer from what happened years ago? You are all being cowardly.”

  “That’s brave talk from someone who wasn’t even there,” said Hemadri venomously. He put a menacing foot on the table.

  “Another step and I will have to ask you to leave, Hemadri,” said the king. Strangely, the troll leader threw a furious look toward Karnan before sitting down. Ubhay was also irate.

  “This type of arguing will not do at all. Though we are of different creature genes, we are one and the same. We are all Ilemurians. We know the great sacrifice we make going back to the human world and the joy we get in returning. I believe that enough time has passed, and that if we find any new demons, they have every right to the land.”

  The tension did not abate as Karnan caught Roshna’s eye. He knew the words of her old mentor Samara were floating through her mind.

  “It is unlikely, Raja,” Karnan interjected solemnly. “Our maps only allow us to find our own clan members. We would need a demon to find a demon. Since they are all banished, we have no way of telling. Even though you have requested it previously, no such luck.”

  “That is best,” said Hemadri. “We don’t need their kind in here.”

  “It is a fair point, Karnan,” sighed the king. “I did not have much hope.”

  The mood was silent.

  “If there is any chance,” the king said as he stood, “please find one. Our history is incomplete.”

  Without so much as a farewell, King Nahusha jumped and let his wings grow, carrying himself out of the congregation chambers.

  “Incomplete but safe!” shouted Hemadri, waving a fist at the opening.

  “Come, brother,” said Karnan. “We need to return to the human world to find our new comrades.”

  Ubhay and Charak had quickly departed. “Griffins are faster than I thought,” said Yachana.

  “I really wish you would mind your tongue in the presence of those more experienced,” said Hemadri to the young fairy, clearly thinking he was being fatherly. “You will never know of what happened.”

  “I may not have been around then, but the king is right. All Ilemurians should be welcome, and a young demon would have
had nothing to do with your tragedy,” responded Yachana, unyielding.

  Roshna smiled at her. In a government full of angry, loud men, Yachana was a welcome addition.

  “Let’s keep peace until the games,” said Karnan, standing in between them. After the king, there were few that could impose their presence better than the storied centaur warrior.

  The four remaining council members strode from the castle and into the dragon village, the Yonder Gate beckoning them back to the human world. Hemadri shook hands with Karnan and left without saying a word to the other two. Yachana bade her farewell before she too stepped through the gate.

  “See you soon!” she shouted.

  Karnan turned to Roshna. “How are you feeling?” he asked. There was concern etched in every word.

  “I don’t know,” said the unicorn leader. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over what happened all those years ago.”

  “I can understand why. It was a terrible time.”

  There was a silence as Roshna looked off into the distance and Karnan put a supportive hand on her shoulder. She held on to it gratefully.

  “What if we do find a young demon? The king has been requesting this for so long,” she wondered.

  “How would we find one? There is no way.”

  “Remember what Samara told us all those years ago?”

  “How could I forget?”

  A shared look of concern was only interrupted by the distant sound of dragons soaring. The two old friends stepped through the Yonder Gate and back to the human world.

  The land of Ilemuria was in danger, and no one knew.

  CHAPTER 2

  ***

  P andian had never slept particularly well through the nights after his wife passed away many years before. Even in his old age, his mind always wandered through his own memories, wondering what differences he could have made. The familiar creaks and groans of his home that was even older than him were more welcoming than frightening. Living alone had come with some moments of solitude, but this time he just could not help but feel something was different.

  The entrance to the attic seemed higher than he remembered, though it had been several years since he entered. The apprehension flowed through his lumbering old bones as he reached for the clasp on the ceiling with his cane. Easily hooking onto it, he pulled down the door and watched a ladder fold open.

  Maybe a raccoon got in and knocked over an old lamp, he tried to convince himself, knowing there was no chance.

  Steadying himself on the ladder and checking that it still supported his weight, Pandian slowly made his way up to the attic, his cane firmly tucked under his arm. Still in rather good shape for a man his age, Pandian easily pulled himself up into the long, empty room. His eyes were immediately transfixed by the light coming from a box he had stashed away years earlier.

  Incredulous, Pandian made his way over to the chest, his heart pounding a long and angry symphony.

  There is no way, he thought. She told me this would happen all those years ago. I thought she was lying.

  A deep sadness engulfed the old man as he walked toward the chest. Memories of his late wife flooded back to him as he barely contained his tears.

  We could never agree. I just did not understand what she meant. I should have been more supportive when she needed me.

  Pandian had lived with regret for so many years. He leaned over the chest and lowered himself to the ground. With a deep breath, he opened the already unlocked box and looked inside.

  His eyes were instantly blinded as he threw up his arms to shield them. Slowly opening them again, he peered inside. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

  A cylindrical object, made of stone, it looked like, was glowing a beautiful blue. Its surface was rough, with many divots and bumps.

  To many others, this would have been unbelievable. To Pandian, that was his chance at redemption. This was his chance to finally make peace with his late wife.

  He delicately picked up the stone and wrapped it in a nearby cloth, making sure no light seeped through. He slowly climbed back down the ladder into his bedroom. Eyeing the clock and noting the early hour, he knew there was no way to fall back asleep. Not that he slept particularly well anyway. He made his way over to his bedside table, where a small picture frame with an old photo was prominently displayed. Pandian looked at it longingly.

  “This was the signal you told me to wait for all those years ago, wasn’t it, my love?” he whispered.

  He could feel the tears streaming slowly down his cheeks as he let them run.

  “I’m sorry I never listened to you. I’m sorry I never even tried to understand, but I do now. I will find them.”

  Pandian packed his few clothes and wandered down to his car. It had been many months since he had driven, but thankfully, it revved up just fine. With no traffic on the roads that morning, he began driving.

  It did not matter where he went, just that he got there first.

  *

  As the sun started to poke its head out in the early hours of the morning, an alarm pierced a room hundreds of miles away. A hand reached out lazily from underneath a blanket and turned it off. Barely a few minutes later, loud shouting could be heard from the kitchen.

  Why do I even need an alarm? Veeran Puranam quickly jumped out of his bed. Though still small for his age, days of playing soccer and swimming with his friends had given him an athletic build. Not the greatest morning person, he quickly pulled on a t-shirt and tiptoed to the kitchen in his small apartment. His grandmother was there already.

  Jeya eyed her grandson crossly. “I have been up for two hours already, cleaning and cooking, and I’m still not finished.”

  “Maybe you should wake up earlier, Ammama. That way you would be done,” retorted Veeran bravely.

  His grandmother’s expression softened as Veeran embraced her tightly. She had raised him since he was a little boy, and the young man would always be grateful for what she had sacrificed for him. Having just left his teenage years behind, Veeran had to grow up a lot quicker than most boys his age.

  “At least now I’m scolding you for not waking up early, instead of the other shenanigans you used to be up to,” said his grandmother as she loaded Veeran’s plate with eggs and sausages.

  Veeran could not help but smile as some memories came back to him. It had not been easy for the two of them in their tiny apartment in a very rough neighborhood, but they always had each other’s backs. His grandmother was loving but stern.

  “What do you have planned today?” she asked as he devoured his breakfast.

  “Meeting up with some friends,” he responded, his mouth full of egg as she looked at him disapprovingly. “We’re going to play sports all day.”

  “I’m glad,” she responded. “At least these friends help keep your head on right.”

  Veeran smiled, kissed his grandmother, and went and got ready. He took the elevator downstairs, got his bike from the apartment garage, and rode off.

  Pandian watched as he rode out of sight, eyeing the boy from a distance. He made sure the horn was tucked tight under his jacket as its tip followed the boy. It was definitely him.

  *

  Veeran never felt more free than when he was riding his bike, skipping between sidewalks and driveways, his long, dark hair flowing in the wind.

  His mates had helped keep him on the right path. Though Toronto was considered a safe city, there were always certain corners that had to be avoided. He had to be home at night before it got too dark. It had gotten better over the years, but he still followed certain rules, more out of habit than anything else.

  Trouble wasn’t always easy to stay away from. It had a strange way of finding him. Though she was a strong lady, it did not stop his grandmother from being an easy target for some in the old neighborhood. Veeran remembered the time she had nearly been mugged, and he had tried to fight back.

  “You ruined everything for us,” two strange men had said one night, many yea
rs ago. They were walking home together from a late school meeting, the only light coming from the faint lampposts.

  “You will never understand,” she had responded.

  Veeran had never been more scared, but he still stood in front of her, a small boy determined to protect the person he cared about the most. The strange men stared down at the brave child and walked away. They rushed home quickly after that.

  “Will that ever happen again?” asked a frightened Veeran.

  “I hope not,” she had responded.

  Maybe it did happen again, and she never told him about it, but it made Veeran all the more protective. No matter how hard it could have been for him growing up, he knew his grandmother had it worse. His grandfather had left her when his mother was only a few years old. Veeran’s mother resented his grandmother growing up, blaming her for her father leaving. When she had her own child at such a young age, it only separated them further. She left the baby behind and moved away. Veeran did not know if she was even in Canada anymore. He had been raised by his grandmother ever since, not even sure of what his mom looked like. It took him several years not to blame himself over his mother leaving, but his grandmother had made sure he knew it was never his fault.

  Veeran could remember all the conversations they ever had about family.

  “Why did grandpa leave?” he asked one day when he had built up enough courage. Even though it had happened so long ago, he would never forget the sadness that echoed through her voice.

  “He was not a bad man, but he was in a bad place,” was all she said.

  “And my mom and dad?” he ventured further.

  “I don’t know your father,” she said. “Your mother still blames me for her father and my husband leaving.”