A Promise of Doom

"A...game?"

"Yes, a game. you don't want to?"

"But it's pouring heavily outside."

"We don't need to go outside. Let's play a game you love to play."

"I'm not an avid game player so I don't know anything about games."

"What did you spend your childhood doing?"

Memories of his bleak, dark childhood flashed through his head. He was often abandoned in his room with nothing but books and a few scrolls, quills, and inks. Even his window was boarded up so light barely came in through them. He had to haul himself out of bed to open the balcony slightly so he could breathe and use the light filtering through to read the books.

When he was much younger, he was taught how to read and write by a few servants who pitied him. Those servants were fired or killed when they raised concern as to how he was being treated. He never reached out to anyone after that, spending each day wishing for a brighter future. As he got to his teen years, those wishes started to turn into one for an early death.

"I used to read a lot," he smiled.

"How boring. Well, if you know nothing about games, there's something to show you. We need to go to Jade Hall for that."

"Don't tell me you used to play with demons in your childhood?" he joked.

"Oh, how did you know?" Aretha replied, smiling. Caspian couldn't help but feel horror in those few seconds.

Aretha called Taylor in to help Caspian while she called for her knights. To her, it was a game. To her knights, it was hellish training. But Caspian wouldn't know this until later. They got ready and began descending to the Jade hall.

"Are you participating as well, Taylor?"

"The lady wouldn't allow me to miss it. I used to play this game when I was younger as well."

"So it is a family thing?"

"Something like that," Taylor shrugged. He pushed the doors of the Jade hall open and proceeded indoors. The heat from the several floors blasted away any sort of cold they felt from being outdoors for a short time. Capsian took off his coat and Taylor hung it on one of the hangers protruding from the walls, taking Caspian to a lower floor than he anticipated.

Caspian spotted Aretha almost immediately. She was stretching whilst facing another direction so she didn't see him. She wore revealing clothes which made him turn away at first. A short, tight top that covered just enough of her torso and long tight trousers that clung tightly to her skin, revealing the true size of her shapely behind. She threw her hair into a high ponytail to keep it out of her face.

"Your first time seeing her like that?" Taylor teased.

"Is it always like this?"

"Only when she's training. Wearing armor can get a little tiring."

Caspian didn't know whether it was acceptable but he didn't know if it was his place to say anything either. It was then she finally noticed them. She smiled and began making her way to them. She surprised him by leaping over an entire floor just to stand in front of him.

"Hello, husband."

"Why did you do that?!"

"It was faster and I wanted to see you sooner. I missed you," she said, nuzzling his face.

"But I was barely gone for ten minutes!"

The knights watched this from afar, feeling a sort of envy. Their master had always been wild and unbridled but even someone like her could get a lovely and accepting partner that was worried for her even though she was the strongest person in the kingdom.

"Life isn't fair."

"I agree," Taylor said, nodding his hair. They jolted out of fear and surprise when they saw he had come so close to them without them noticing. He also changed into training gear, taking off his shirt as soon as he was noticed. The feeling of envy was back, only it came with some apprehension.

The toned body of the youth wasn't exactly rare in the north but while theirs came through near death training, his was just brute strength and endurance. Not to mention the fact that his weapon of choice were his hands. He looked harmless from afar but was a terrible opponent to have.

The game of choice just happened to poise him as an opponent. The game was relatively simple, like football except the demon was the ball and the knights divided into two teams. Each team tried to wrestle down and subdue the same demon while simultaneously fending off the other team from subduing the demon first. It was the sort of training one did in preparation for war.

"So, what's the game about?"

"It's a relatively simple game. There are two targets they have to try to defeat. Both targets are going to try to kill them so they'll try to survive as long as they can. Eventually, one of the targets would subdue the other and the game would be over."

"Who is 'they'?"

"My knights. Look at them all prepped up."

"Right. And who are the targets?"

"That demon over there…" Aretha pointed down at the cage being opened. Caspian heard the sound of a chain rattling and a low growl. The ground shook as the demon came out of the cage. It was a reptilian monster with large scales, wings and two long red horns matching the rest of its body.

"That's a Dragun!"

"It is a Dragun! It's a low intelligence Demon lord. Wren captured it and brought it in."

"That's extremely brave! I hear they are very dangerous!"

"They are! Wow, you know a lot about demons, more than I expected."

"I-It's nothing. Draguns are very popular demons in the capital. I've seen a few festivals."

"I'm sorry, festivals? You have festivals centered around Draguns?"

"There's a whole festival of demons in the capital. People have costumes of demons and a mask for those who don't have costumes."

"I see. Just out of curiosity, do they celebrate the brave knights that die fighting these demons?"

"The king holds an anniversary feast every year. The festival usually occurs during that time. People say it's to ward off the demons."

"There's such a thing as an anniversary feast? I wonder why we're never invited," she says, smiling. The smile was sinister and he could see her barely restraining her anger. He had to change the topic and quickly.

"Wait, you never told me what the Second target was. Is it another demon?"

"Another demon, huh? I guess you can say that. The second target…is me."

She jumped back down, landing directly on the demon. The head of the demon was pinned to the ground before it could protest.

"Let's begin, filthy maggots!"

"Is it me or the lady looks a lot more aggressive now?"

"Do you think the lord promised her something?"

"Perhaps. I hope the demon kills me first if I have to die."

"You and me both."

What ensued was basically a bloodbath. It was horribly one sided. Neither the demons nor the knights could withstand her barrage. The only one capable of taking her attacks was Taylor but even he was struggling to fend them all.

Caspian could only watch in guilt, knowing he was partially responsible for this. When he couldn't take it any longer, he yelled for her to stop. His voice was like a tiny call for help against giant crashing winds. Yet, like he wielded a strange amount of power, she abruptly stopped throwing them around.

When Caspian saw her eyes, he couldn't help but gasp. From their normal scarlet color, they were slowly turning purple. The scales she tried to hide on her chest were poking through her top and from the way she looked, she was starting to resemble a full fledged demon.

She dragged the demon back into the cage and locked it up before walking back out. She clapped, gaining the attention of her groaning knights.

"Listen up! Thanks to my lovely husband, I just learned the people of the capital value demons more than they value the people constantly keeping them safe from the demons. If they appreciate the demons more than they appreciate us, it is only right that we don't come in the middle, right?"

Their blood started to run cold. The only one who looked pleased was Taylor.

"Your fathers, brothers, cousins and uncles risked their very lives to fend off the demons for several centuries. Yet for those same centuries, people have believed them to be a myth and think the work we're doing here is just a fiction of our imagination. They tax us even though the constitution says otherwise and they never provide the support we need. Well, I'm done. I won't fight the demons for them anymore. Anyone who wants to fight the demons, they can go ahead. But until the king gets on his knees and begs me, I will not intervene anymore."