Broken Promises
Forward
This tale takes place in a world that is not much different than our own. People go on with their lives just like we do, but these people are different from us. Because you see they are not truly human. At least some of them are not.
They are demons, but not the demons whom you think you know about. These people, these demons do not come from hell and are no less evil than you or I. They are just people who have special abilities. They are people who have two souls trapped in the same body, though only one of these souls is human. The other soul is an animal. Because of them having more than one soul, they are able to change into that animal’s form if they so choose. However, even though these demons are not born evil, many humans think they are.
They shun them, as if they were the cause of all their problems, but you see that is not always the case. Yes, some demons are evil just like some humans are immoral but most are just trying to get by in a world that looks down on them.
Demons are people and in this story it will show you what happens when people accept that fact and when people do not.
Prologue
On The World Called Ventra
12:00 a.m.
Lightning crashed through the trees, filling the night air with light and the smell of ozone. Raging winds tore through the forest, whipping the trees back and forth in its fury. Darklings, demonic animals that only showed their faces at night, lunged away from the lightning, screaming and yowling through the rain.
A small house stood alone, taking the full force of the storm. It groaned under the onslaught, but it refused to buckle. The darklings slithered towards the house in numbers that had not been seen in thousands of years.
Thousands of these misunderstood creatures poured from the raging forest draw by a power that they, themselves did not understand.
They crept and slinked until a few could peek through one of only three windows of the house. Their glowing eyes stared through the window at the scene inside.
A woman’s scream filled the night, causing a darkling to cry out with her. Darklings swayed back and forth with the rain as another scream pierced the night air.
Inside the woman screamed once more. She whipped her head side to side as blood dribbled from her young demon body.
“Push, Maya! Push, girl!” yelled an older woman.
The older woman, with hair the color of freshly spun silver, crouched between Maya’s thighs. She carefully wiped the blood away as Maya pushed. With that push, her baby’s head crested, tearing her. Maya screamed as the older woman gripped the baby’s head and began to gently pull it from her body.
“Reina I can’t push anymore!” Maya screamed.
“Yes you can!” demanded Reina. “Now push!”
Maya cried, her arms reaching out blindly searching for anything to hold onto. Her hand hit a soft, warm hand and held on for dear life. The young girl she held onto wiped the sweat from Maya’s brow as she pushed once more.
“Come on, Maya!” Renia yelled. “Just once more! Push once more!”
Maya pushed with the last bit of energy she had left and her baby bust from her body. She slumped back, her body finally giving up as she stared up at the ceiling.
Her baby’s cries split through her fogged mind, bringing her back to reality. Maya turned her head to see Renia cradling her baby in her arms.
“It is a healthy baby boy, my lady,” cooed the young girl.
Maya looked at the young girl and slowly remembered that her name was Lily. Lily did not look a day older than thirteen, but she stood beside Maya without an ounce of queasiness that normal girl her age would have shown.
Maya sighed and tried to push herself up, but she just did not have the strength. Lily helped as much as she could, but she could only manage to pull Maya up to half way.
“Let me see him,” Maya whispered.
Renia laid the baby in Maya’s arms, then stepped away. Tears filled Maya’s eyes as she looked down at her newborn baby boy. He looked up at her and smiled.
Her baby's bright green eyes shone from his face. Curly red hair covered his head, and she lightly scraped her finger nails through it.
“What will you call him, my lady?” asked Lily.
Maya stared down at him. He had old eyes, already filled with more wisdom than she could ever hope of receiving.
“I believe that I will call him Caspian,” Maya whispered.
Caspian giggled as he smiled up at her. Smiling, Maya kissed his soft little forehead.
Outside, lightning lit the night sky. Darklings howled as they watched Maya and Caspian, their new and only master.
Chapter 1 in my next post.
I love how the first scene starts with the chaotic storm, just as chaos was going on inside of the house. I also like how the segue into what's happening inside the house happens via the Darklings looking through the window. If these demons are good, than why are they demons? I thought all demons were evil, because demon comes from demonic, as in "from the devil" or "satanic." Actually, if you look up "define demonic" on Google, it gives "Fiercely energetic or frenzied" as one of the definitions. Are they demonic because they fit that description? I'm curious as to how these creatures became the way that they are...was a curse put on them? Maybe that's explained in the later chapters. Also (and this may also be in the later chapters), I was trying to picture what the Darklings look like. If they can transform into animals, that must mean that they aren't always in animal form, so I guess they're in human form most of the time? They also seem very animal-like in the first scene, like when they are running rampant in the thunder-storm. I'm picturing the Darklings to be cavemen-looking people. I also asked myself if this "world that is not much different than our own" is literally like another planet, like in Avatar, or is it just a place on Earth that is separated from all the "normal" humans? I think the creatures you created sound very unique and intersting, and I'd love to hear more about them. Great job.
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