In the corner of a world, in a far-off plane, a smidgen of land held warfare.
Motherland was typically green and lush with the fervent of vitality that never ceased to make one feel unwelcome. But in this particular century, the skies were domed with heavy clouds and dreariness weighed atop the shoulders of feral warriors.
The land had wilted yellow like winter had sucked the life out of the greenery. But that wasn't the case with the Motherland which was always in a constant spring. Blood blotched and seared the soil in constant rain, perhaps that was what poisoned the soil. Animals have fled the crossfire of battle, the only living was that of soldiers who stood on a circus string between life and death. And for what? Petty war?
Oh, one must not belittle the acts of war. For the rich and noble need to wax their legs and scratch their golden pillars. If they don't touch the behinds of jeweled buttons it's said that their skin will rot and the only flavor they would taste is that of the dirt a corpse laid upon.
Well...that is just one side of the coin. The other side is for a cause, one far more important than luxury. This war is between one race and thousands of other races. They fight to kill the rot, to end the disgusting plague that's been enslaving, slaughtering, and populating like an overgrown tumor that needs to finally be cut out.
The side I currently stand on would probably be called the villain side. That's an understatement actually. Demons, I'm on the demon's side. The species every other species wants dead. Demons are a giant cult that's taken things beyond expectation. Their footprint on this planet is far too bloody, and even if the race is once and for all irradicated it would take centuries before the scars would show signs of healing.
War on the demons happens every so often, and you could say it's a never-ending battle with a few pauses of breathing room for a few years. The demons are never defeated clearly and have found ways to get around the aspect of doing things themselves. The higher-ranking demons sit on their thrones drinking the blood of their victories with sickening grins. While the enslaved they've gathered to fight their wars and kill their brothers and sisters on the other side of the battlefield, become shells of who they once were.
The people who willingly work for the demons usually use brainwashing techniques, torture, and puppet manipulation to get the unwilling to cooperate.
Of course, this has triggered several individuals who have had their families taken away to be used as demon army cannon fodder. Yet I have yet to see a break in the demon's power.
But what do I care? I'm just a cat.
🐾
"Cat."
Taka opened one orange eye and lazily observed the witch who disturbed him. Her dark hair was so long it covered her face most of the time and always appeared to be wet and slimy. Her skinny features and dark eyes gleam evil.
"What do you want master?" Although he responded politely, it was so sickly sweet to the ear it formed mockery.
The witch frowned but turned to look past it. She grit her teeth and said in all seriousness, "A small rebellion has started to form in Ace City the higher-ups want you to fix it."
Taka rolled his eyes and pawed the window seal he laid on in gloom. "Alright." The witch showed approval with a hum and left the room in spurts of dark light. Dark magic she used, like all the other witches who work for the demons. While she is a willing slave of the demons, he's her personal slave, lower perhaps than her if he were to rank familiars in terms of slave rankings. But Taka is much more powerful than her and perhaps all the witches combined who work for the demons. Unfortunately, he can't escape the fate of a familiar and cannot wield his power to escape for freedom. He is controlled by a thread. But a thread is still a leash.
Taka yawned and gave a good stretch, jumping down from the window seal. He had a few chores to take care of.
Like a mirage, the cat suddenly disappeared and in its place was a human. A cloak covered most of his features. With a tongue click Taka teleported without any qualm. He was like a ghost, and Ghost is what the enslaved called him.
The room he appeared to held an acrid smell. Old and new blood coated most of the hay that covered the floor, like a barn. If it weren't for being used to such a smell and sight, Taka might have vomited.
"Ghost..." A voice cracked with dehydration called out with desperation. The elderly man sounded on his last breath. The voice started a chain reaction and soon, a crowd of skinny men and women walked to him. All unsteady on feet, all dirty in appearance. An elf reached a cupped hand out first with begging eyes. A werewolf kneeled like a husk. A young fairy did the same looking numb and brittle. All kinds of enslaved gathered around not too close nor too far from Taka. They whispered 'Ghost' under their breath like a chanting ritual.
Taka's eyes softened and soon the room held a fresh smell of baked bread. The hands of every slave held a loaf and the other an edible cup filled with palatable water.
"Eat quickly someone is coming," Taka whispered but it reached the ears of everyone there. In a span of a few seconds all the food and water were gone. They ate like starving animals not leaving a crumb and afterward held a delighted look and expressed thanks without having to say a single word. No slave knew who he was, nor expressed their curiosity to the person who came in a whisper and disappeared like a shadow in the sun. He gave food and water to the sickbay of slaves who were unfit for battle and used as workers, if lucky, and demon meals if unlucky.
Taka fizzled away into an open field a few miles away from Ace City. The wars had affected the motherland hevely. The land no longer sings. Taka remembers in some far memory where the grass was such vibrant green and sky so blue he could laze in the blazing golden sun all day and not feel hot nor cold, with a slight evening breeze that blew any thought he had away. It was such a distant memory but he savored any feeling of remembrance from it. It is now the only memory he remembers feeling truly at peace and happy, but Taka doesn't remember why he was so happy. Maybe it was just simply the weather that made him happy.
The weather now is so dreary it looks like a storm is always in the air. Taka reminiscences gliding his hand across the many fallen arrows that sprouted from the shriveled grass from a previous battle. They thunked with each glide at the steady pace Taka took and before long he made it to Ace City.
It was poverty-stricken and they happen to be on demon territory. The demons have control of a large chunk of land and there are many territories such as Ace City where people live somewhat normal lives, they could be called the citizens of the demons living better off than the enslaved who work closely with the real demons. But places like these are simply breeding zones for drafting. Almost every male is sent off to go to war, leaving a few to continue to populate.
Buildings were half-collapsed and Taka found the city unusually quiet. He would have thought chaos would be lurking here but nothing even showed signs of moving.
He looked left and right, teleported here and there, but the city was empty. Not even a cow or chicken was left. Belongings were still there, even a hot stew was still boiling at the fire burnt to a crisp. Taka wondered how long it had been on the fire.
He had gotten a strange feeling. Unusual.
With keen perception, he turned around and left to go back into the field of arrows to daydream. He would not inform that witch of this, why should he? He's a cat he should be able to do what he wants and not do the witch's bidding.
Or he should say, he doesn't have to do a dead witch's bidding. He felt it, her life force dimming.
Taka smiled slyly and not a moment later he heard the witch call in desperation through link.
"Cat! Get over here quickly, hurry!" desperation was in her croaked voice, Taka's smile grew.
"Right, I'm on my way," Taka hummed his leisure pace not changing at all. Not even five minutes later the witch called again, "Where are you!? Get over here now! This is an order CAT!"
"I'm coming I'm coming, I've run into some trouble it'll take a while." Taka spouted bullshit to get her to shut up and it worked because soon the link went silent. He chuckled, that witch was really too stupid, to give an order to a familiar you have to say the familiar's name, and even if he didn't want to he had to follow that order no matter what.
"She's forgotten my name," Taka's eyes glowed orange.
Just like that, he felt the familiar feeling of a gut-wrenching pain stab his body. It lasted for a few minutes before it was gone and his human form disappeared, replaced with a cat. The witch had died, he was no longer her familiar. Although he didn't know the cause (most likely having something to do with the disappearance of the city people) of death or why it happened he didn't care, he was relishing in relief and freedom.
His cat tail flicked back in forth in a pleasing rhythm looking around to find the perfect place to slowly wilt and die just like the motherland many years ago. And with that, he will go back to the ground that once gave birth to him.
🐈