True Colors

Corin hated his job. Ever since he had been born, his bloodline had bound him to this insufferable work for the rest of his life. He was a descendant of a demon count, the lowest of the demonic bloodlines there was. His father, and thus him as well were required to manage demonic disturbances that were sensed throughout the world. Ever since the great massacre that forced his race into hiding they had gone out of their way to maintain the balance in the eyes of the humans.

When they had first gone into hiding, humans had still relentlessly hunted them toward their extinction. It wasn't until they took matters into their own hands and began to cull the more problematic and wild demon's out there that humanity began to forget about them. Once less people were attacked by demon's, and the true demons were in hiding, it was all just a matter of going about their lives. For each Kingdom that existed in the world, there was a demonic counterpart. The two factions would rule over the region together, managing their own people and protecting the lands from anything deemed catastrophic.

The unfortunate part of this arrangement, was that human's couldn't know about the demonic presence without fear of mass hysteria. Corin and the other count level true demons were tasked with ensuring no rogue true demons stirred up trouble. He was part of the faction that hated the current state of things, thinking that the demons should be the real rulers of the world. Every time he had to take care of a rogue demon, it only reinforced through the destruction that they were superior beings. If he wouldn't be killed for treason, he would let them run wild and wipe the weak humans out.

His current mission was to investigate a demonic pulse that had originated in the descending dragon kingdom. His family managed the region of the disturbance, and his father had sent him. The demonic flair up that signaled the birth of a true demon was weak, leading his father to believe that someone had been born with just enough demonic blood to manifest a demon body. His job was to either collect the infant and bring it back to the family, or to cull it if it was too weak. If the blood was too thin, children would manifest with only a minor demonic body. Traits like a horn, different skin color, or black eyes were tell tale signs that someone carried demonic blood. They tended to die early as humans would kill what they feared or didn't understand.

In the case that the child was already dead than he would simply leave and make a report. If the child was to be reared, than he would forcibly suppress its blood and bring it back with him to be given to the kingdom. Demon infants had no control over their bodies, which was the trademark of a true demon, so most parents would suppress their blood until they could manage it themselves. Corin had only just been able to switch between the two forms at will, thus his father had deigned him ready for carrying on his duties.

Now he found himself travelling in the back of a carriage with a bunch of humans that left a constant glare on his face. He felt that the common folk were akin to rats, and any time they touched him he wanted to vomit. Their smell alone was enough for his enhanced senses to revolt against him for their mistreatment. 'Only one more week of traveling before I reach my destination. Then I can finally blow off some steam on the clan that forced me to come out to this back woods area.'

****

Lyra didn't understand what Alistar meant when he said that she would be his first general. "Look I am happy to help him with what he is going through, but I don't know anything about this general business." Ever since she had gone into the dungeon, everything had been moving at a million miles a minute. She had barely even had time to get fully familiar with her newfound power, and she was being conscripted into some type of military service?

"Every demon prince needs his subjects, you shall be his first. When he faces the greater world and all of those who would seek him harm, you will fight by his side." Alistar spoke in a matter of fact manner, but Lyra couldn't help but want to revolt against being told what to do. Even though she felt guilty about what had happened, she wasn't ready to give her life away.

"I appreciate the offer, but I did not plan to join any military any time soon. Not only that, but im not the most capable warrior as I am. Why does he need a general when he has someone as powerful as you watching over him?" Lyra did not want to be bound by anyone, her drive and passion for exploring was too integral to be forced to stay in one place forever.

"Well first off, I cannot watch over him forever. On top of that he needs to grow on his own now that he has awakened. I love him dearly, but I will not coddle him." Alistar's tone was sincere, but his next words took a harsher edge. "Secondly, I was not making you an offer young lady. In my culture, blood is payed in kind. By rite of power, my family owns you for making an attempt on my heir's life." Darkness suddenly consumed the tent, leaving only Lyra and Alistar visible.

Panic and confusion set in, leaving Lyra stuttering for a few seconds. "What.. what do you mean? It was Bamor who attacked him, not me. I feel bad for what happened, but I can't control someone else's actions." She couldn't figure out why he thought she was responsible, especially since she had shared Kantan's words directly.

Alistar's stern face turned into an evil smile before he snapped his fingers once more. Suddenly the darkness began to recede, but this time her surroundings were different. They were standing up in the air above the medical tent, nothing solid beneath her. Her heart pulsed a surge of adrenaline at the sight, but she did not fall. She instinctively screamed, but no sound came out of her mouth despite the activation of her vocal chords.

"Tsk tsk, you have already played your part in this. Do not take mine as well." With that, Alistar pointed toward the tent's entrance, where Jirman could be seen pacing back and forth nervously. "Your father is quite worried about you at the moment. As soon as I appeared he through quite the fit. I hadn't even said anything before he tried to bar my entrance to the tent." Alistar's eyebrows rose expectantly, "Tell me child, why would my grandson's best friend be in any danger within my presence? Can you think of a good reason?"

Lyra had calmed down slightly at his words, realizing that this would be an elaborate way to kill her if he actually wanted her dead. When his questions ran through her thoughts, a pit formed in her stomach. A worried expression flashed across her face before she quickly steeled herself. "How do I know what I am seeing is real?"

Alistar seemed to think for a moment before responding to her question. "You should know from Kantan that my chi is aspected to sound, which is not good for creating images or illusions based on sight. Every demon has some control over darkness innately, which is even worse when it comes to illusions."

Lyra wanted to refute his claims, but she had been taught the general principles of most aspects. She knew that he wasn't lying to her, but the truth was not something she wanted to believe. "He could just be worried about my health, I was in the tent for much longer than I needed to be earlier." She knew her logic had holes, but she couldn't believe that her father would betray her like he was implying.

"Naive, child. Allow me to demonstrate the quality of the cloth you have been made from." Alistar then snapped his fingers once more, and Jirman seemed to jump in shock. He stood still, stuck in the middle of a step like time had frozen for him. A second later lightning and wind cracked around his body and he blurred to her eyes. He flew at the tent's opening like a bullet, making her wonder why he had suddenly activated his abilities. A wave of nausea washed over her originating from his body, and she almost emptied her stomach's limited contents.

Alistar waved his hand and the sickness abruptly vanished, while at the same time Jirman collided with the tent's opening like it was a brick wall. His body crunched against an invisible barrier, a grunt of pain forced out along with his breath. "You leave my daughter alone, Alistar! She had nothing to do with this." He quickly recovered, standing up and launching a whirling fist at the barrier. His left arm was limp and bent at an odd angle from the first crash, his right did not fair much better. His power seemed to rebound against him, the fist's energy exploded back through his arm. After the dust settled, Lyra could see that all that remained of her father's right arm was a mangled piece of flesh that resembled the flesh of a fruit after it had been peeled.

Lyra finally couldn't help it, the gore paired with her father's injury caused her to retch. "Can't spoil the fun just yet." Alistar waved his hand and the bile that escaped her lips simply turned into a mist so fine that quickly vanished from her tear filled eyes.

"What are you doing to him!" She couldn't help but scream at the source of her anguish, the stress overwhelming her.

"I am doing nothing child, aside from exposing your father for who he truly is." Jirman was now kneeling as he was overwhelmed by the pain. He was not out of commission just yet though, and soon began to bash his head against the invisible barrier in desperation.

"Its not her fault, its not her fault, please stop hurting her. It was me! if you have to get your revenge, at least let my child go!" Blood was seeping from his forehead, which was wounded more and more as he strikes hit the invisible barrier. Lyra finally processed his words and it all became too much, darkness enclosed on her mind as her understanding of what her father had done, and all its implications, overloaded her. Just as her body began to fall limp, she saw Alistar swiftly catch her with a tender yet firm grip.