//song: The Beginning is the End is the Beginning - Smashing Pumpkins
The man in front of me wasn't Damien.
I knew that much just by looking at him, he didn't even need to speak.
Queenie. He called Tianna that too once.
He was the one that roamed through the Keep once, the one that made the fiendish deal with Tianna. He was the one to start to build the house of cards that would eventually lead to the downfall of the Underworld.
It was different seeing him in person rather than in Tianna's memories imbedded in the jewel.
The energy he spilled in the room was suffocating. It was thick, like tar, dangerous and impossibly ancient. It reminded me of the times when I would wake up in the middle of the night and felt something watching me in the darkness. It always scared me and, briefly, I wondered if anyone else had the same feeling when it happened to them.
But I felt it ran much deeper than that.
Suddenly, I remembered the story Asmo had once said. "Legends say that when the world was new and the gods created the humans upon them, they cast out the shadows of the world, who only knew destruction and death. Demons."
The Dark Ones. Demons. In the flesh in front of me.
The man took a step forward towards me and instinctively, I took one back.
He stopped, his face clear with amusement.
"Runith," Mal said with a smile. "It looks like she knows you."
Asmo's shoulders were tensed, his free hand balled into a fist at his side. I could feel dark energy rolling through him. He was trying so desperately to keep it in check. "Mal, he was not part of our bargain."
Mal rolled her eyes, exasperated. "You bore me, Asmodeus." She crossed her arms. "We are not harming Damien. The demons will not invade the Underworld like it will the other realms. " She looked at me. "All I wanted was this stubborn imposter, whatever it took." She looked back at him again. "And you brought her right to me." She looked at Runith, the Damien-Imposter. "He doesn't have to follow fae law but he's doing it as a favor to me. Since you do not want her dead, he'll just be very persuasive so she can give up the crown willingly." She smiled and looked at me again. "Get her to kneel before me, Runith."
My eyes followed Runith as he took a step towards me.
I began to take a step back and he lifted both his hands. His right hand reached towards Asmo, his left reached for me.
At once, our bodies obeyed. Asmo's hand was ripped from my wrist. He was flung away towards the wall far behind him. I was pulled forward by my chest with so much force I was sure my heart would be ripped from my chest.
In the next moment, I was dangling in the air a foot from the ground, a solid hand around my neck. The man smiled. "I never thought the half-breed would come in so handy."
I gasped air into my lungs but it was no use.
"He was close enough to you he was finally able to touch you and subdue your light. How fortunate for me!"
Somehow, my mind drifted back into my memories. Asmo was always respectful of my space, he only ever told me he wouldn't touch me unless I asked. I vaguely wondered if that was one of the reasons why.
Somewhere, I heard Julian struggle.
Other men grunted as they fought.
Mal only laughed as if she were just watching a game.
I struggled as I dangled. Gods, I couldn't breathe! I called on my power and failed.
"Not so fast, Runith!" I could hear Mal's pout. "You said this would be fun. You promised revenge for what she did to my parents!"
His grip loosened and I could finally take a large breath of air. I looked at the demon, then at Mal.
What I did to her parents? I did nothing to Tianna.
I kicked out at the demon as hard as I could.
He laughed and brought me closer to his face. "I never thought I would see the last light with my own eyes. You were very well hidden." Damien's violet eyes looked me over in amazement. They looked with a hunger I never saw in Damien. "How did you manage to escape our plans?"
My lip curled in anger.
"You should have been slaughtered with the rest of those abominations."
My stomach churned as I watched him smile cruelly. I remembered the hollowed out city in Elysium, how hollowed out it was. I remembered the dark brown stains of old blood on the alabaster walls of the city.
The tattered stuffed animals on the floor of the child's room...
My anger was not only my own but that also of my magic. The dark magic within me was seething. My light magic anguished at his words.
I spit in his face.
He didn't seem bothered. He didn't attempt to clean his face. He only watched me with delight.
The only sound in the room was Julian struggling with the guards. Mal signed audibly. "I'm getting bored. Can we start now? Break her fingers!"
He smiled as Mal cackled in delight.
I looked at Julian who fought against his captors. My heart broke as I looked at him. He was fighting each of them intensity but it was useless. There were too many of them on him. Julian, as strong and capable as he was wasn't a match against four fae men.
If anything, they looked to be harming him more than he was beating them. My eyes filled and my lips moved on their own. "Julian."
Neither Mal nor the demon looked at him with any interest. They didn't think he was a threat at all.
A man finally took the legs out from under him making him fall on his knees again. Two men grabbed each of his arms and pulled him down. Another stood behind him as he kneeled and wrapped his burly arm around his neck, keeping Julian firmly in place.
Juliann struggled to speak but I saw the fire in his eyes.
Runith laughed and I suddenly realized he noticed how I looked at Julian.
He watched me with horrible fascination. "This Julian is your lover, isn't he?"
Mal groaned loudly, annoyed. "Yes, we know this already. All these guys want her, gods know why."
Runith smiled, completely ignoring Mal. "Your magic sings to his."
Julian noticed his hand tightening. "Let her go. Stop touching her--"
Runith laughed as he responded to Julian. "Do you think I will break her fingers as Mal has asked?" Runith's eyes were cruel. "No, as the last pure blood light, I wouldn't do her that dishonor." He stopped, as if thinking. "At least not yet, anyway. Besides, there is more fun to be had." His hand let me go and my legs kept me shakily on the ground.
I lashed out immediately towards him, raising a hand to push my power against him.
Iron clasps appeared on my wrists immediately and I felt the room spin around me. I could feel nausea rise. It took everything within me to stay on my feet.
"Now, now," he said through the fog. "You naïve, young fae. I'm almost as old as creation. You're barely a spot in this world." I looked at him as he stood in front of me. I wanted to punch the smug look off his face.
His attention drifted to someone behind me.
"Half-breed," he called. "You will get exactly as you wish. You will carry out the one thing you wish the most." He looked over to Julian. "Kill him."
I froze.
The demon smiled. "Slowly. I want her to feel his pain."
This needs a lot of work, goodness gracious. I can't believe how long it took me to get this out.
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