Innocent

Khai touched the amulet his mother had given him. He was ten years old, just a young boy. His horns were starting to grow in, and the other children in the town made fun of them.

"Why do they hate us?" The tiefling asked his mother. He didn't understand what made them so different.

"They hate us because they are not us," she taught him gently. "We come from evil, but that only means that the good in us is more special than the good in them. We choose our path, and we take our names to strengthen our resolve to that path. Tell me, Khai, what path would you follow?"

The little tiefling looked thoughtful. He didn't want to be evil, like his ancestor whose symbol adorned his amulet. "My name will be Mercy," he said as the amulet stared at him. "Khai Mercy."

Hatred

Khai wiped the blood from his lips. He was fifteen now, an orphan. His mother had long since been killed by raiders, and he had been wandering ever since. The hatred against him only grew.

He looked up at his attackers, three other urchins that didn't want to share air with a monster. He spit blood on the ground in front of them.

They attacked, and his hands were a flurry. He punched, kicked, scratched, headbutted, and tail whipped his way out. He grappled with one, sitting on his chest and raining down blows with his fists until he was pulled off. He ducked his head and rammed another, knocking him over with his powerful horns. Another grabbed him from behind, and he used his tail to keep him balanced as he threw him over his head. Now Khai was holding the human from behind, choking him as he squirmed.

The other two urchins looked afraid now. He hated that look. If it wasn't hatred, it was fear. He let out a deep breath and let go of the one he was holding. "My name is Mercy," he said as they scrambled off. "Khai Mercy."

Want

Khai was panting heavily, pointing his staff at the five pirates surrounding him. He was twenty now, a young man, alone. He had made enough to get on a ship to head to a new land, hopefully a better land. But they were attacked at sea.

The unconscious bodies of four other pirates lay surrounding him. None of the new ones attacked, it seemed like they were waiting for something.

The Captain walked in. One of the Pirates spoke to him quietly, and he surveyed the scene. "You seem strong, kid. You look like you have a lot of anger in you. What are you doing with these poor folks? You should join us. Become a pirate. Put your skills to some good use." He was surprised at that. Someone wanted him? It stirred feelings he hadn't felt in almost a decade. He lowered his staff. The captain walked up to him and clapped a meaty hand on his back. "There's a good lad. You have a name, kid?"

He thought for a few moments. He had a new start now. He could be anything. "My name is Inferno," he said as he forgot his mother. "Kahs Inferno."

Vengeance

Kahs leaped onto the other ship. He was twenty-five now, second mate to the captain. He was feared, like he always was. But now he reveled in it.

His amulet dangled from his neck, glinting with every flash of lightning from the sea storm. His staff was a mercy to his victims, merely knocking them out instead of killing them.

He swept and slashed and jabbed and smashed, bludgeoning his targets with precision, taking out one after another. A gunshot rang out, and he looked up. His captain had been wounded. While he was distracted, someone tackled him, sending his staff flying overboard. He grappled with his assailant, wrenching the sword out of his hands. When he got up, he turned and charged towards his captain. He knelt at the body, tears coming to his eyes as he realized he had felt more for the man than he had ever known. His love was now dead. He heard the gun's hammer pull back, and moved lightning fast out of the way. "Who... who are you??" The killer asked incredulously.

The tiefling drove his sword into the gunslinger. Now he felt the hatred that others had held against him for years. "My name is Inferno," he said as he killed for the first time. "Kahs Inferno."

Desolation

Kahs was drunk and bleeding. He was almost thirty, a lonely man once again. He was weary of pirating, and had retired to a small port town. But he still fought to release his anger.

The bar fight had ended quickly. It wasn't his fault this time, surprisingly. A man walked in wanting to kill a tiefling. He didn't walk out.

He sat in the alleyway, a knife in his gut, wasting his last few moments drinking ale.

"Oh my gods!" He heard someone say. He looked up to see the most beautiful elf in the world. The stranger knelt beside him, pulling herbs and poultices out of his pouch. "Don't worry, sir, you're going to be just fine!" The man pulled the knife out, and went to work on the wound. The tiefling reached up from his place on the floor, wanting to touch the face of his savior. This elf was beautiful, he thought, and kind as well. What did he do to deserve this act of kindness?

"What's your name?" The elf asked. He was so infatuated, he forgot himself, and all the years of pain he had endured. "My name is Mercy," he said, remembering the last person who was this kind to him. "Khai Mercy."

Love

Khai was happy. He was thirty-two, and he had found his soulmate. Zephyr, the elf that saved him, leaned into his embrace as they watched the sunset. Things were well.

Zephyr thought he was a good person. He knew nothing of Khai's pirating days. Khai wished he could say the same, but was also glad he couldn't.

"If you could be anything you wanted, what would you be?" Zephyr asked him, playing with his fingers. Khai thought. "When I was younger, I wanted to be a bard," he said. "Why didn't you?" Zephyr asked. "I've heard you play the lyre, you would make a wonderful bard." Khai didn't want to tell him. Couldn't tell him of the hatred he experienced. "You should go be a bard," Zephyr said. "You have the money, you have the time, you have the skill, so what's keeping you here?" Khai kissed Zephyr's forehead. "You're keeping me here." Zephyr blushed. "You could always come back to me. I won't leave."

Khai thought. "Imagine, me, a bard." He almost laughed. "Khai Mercy," he said as he held his lover close. "Khai Mercy the bard."

Frustration

Khai was entranced. He was thirty-three, a quick learning student in a far off bardic college. His skills were growing daily, and the magic and music he learned to play were more than he ever dreamed was possible.

Others didn't like it. Why should an evil tiefling be so skilled at an art of good and beauty? They were just more that didn't understand.

They challenged him constantly. They always wanted to show him up, but they never succeeded. But soon there was another new student, and that meant another new challenger. Their competition was intense, both playing with skills far beyond their levels. During their music battle, Khai felt his rival slipping magic into his music, trying to throw him off. He fought back with magic as well, and the fight escalated. Khai fought his best, music versus music, magic versus magic. But it went too far. Khai felt his life force slipping away, and knew his opponent was trying to kill him. He wouldn't let him. So he fought back one final time, releasing a chord that he knew would destroy the challenger's mind from the inside.

People gasped in shock as they watched the man collapse, dead. "This is what happens when you try to beat me," he declared. "My name is Inferno," he said, standing over the body of his enemy. "Kahs Inferno."

Hope

He didn't know who he was anymore. He was thirty-five, and starting to grow old. He knew Zephyr would live for a thousand years after he died, and he was terrified of it.

He turned from the balcony and looked back into the bedroom, where Zephyr lay asleep on the bed. He couldn't imagine living in a world without him, and didn't want Zephyr feeling the same.

The tiefling headed into the town, alone at night. He was a bard, he was a pirate, he was a lover, he was afraid. He headed to his usual tavern and ordered a drink. In walked a halfling, but an unusual one. This one seemed older than the stars, and seemed to float in her robes, moving with a grace he'd never seen before. "What are you?" He asked her. "What is the secret to living so long?" She turned her wizened face towards him. "I am a monk. I have trained for years to attain peace and balance. That is the secret to long life. And what are you seeking, young tiefling, for which you need to live for so long?"

He was astounded by her words. Maybe this would be his salvation. "I seek peace and balance. That's all I have ever sought."

Khai Mercy, Kahs Inferno, it didn't matter now. The only name that mattered to him was Zephyr. He would do this for him.

Balance

Kahs was paranoid. He was thirty-six, training to be a monk. He was accepted here. No one hated him, no one tried competing against him specifically.

It was unsettling. How could this be? All his life people were after him. Why weren't these? It must be some kind of wicked test.

He started seeing hate where there was none. When he was chosen to fight, he felt targeted. When he wasn't, he felt deliberately excluded. He was among the best fighters, but when it came to peace and meditation, he fell behind. He felt judged for that, and was ashamed of his incapability. A small part of him told him why, but he didn't want to believe it. It was much safer not to. He felt best when dominating a foe, and worst when sitting peacefully beside "friends". But then emissaries came, monks from another monastery, looking for recruits. "We can use your anger," they said. "We can teach you to use it as well."

He wanted to let go of his anger. But wasn't the best way to use it? "My name is Inferno," he said as he took a step towards letting go. "Kahs Inferno."

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Descent

Kahs stood before a crowd, his magical lute in hand. He was forty, now in training to be a monk, a bard, and an assassin, all at once. He sung words of false prophecy, convincing others that his godly ancestor, Tharizdun, was angry and would punish them all. He held his amulet before them, making the symbol glow with his own magic.

No one would believe him. And that was fine. They didn't need to. Not yet, anyway.

The crowd dispersed, and he disappeared down an alley. His hood raised, he snuck into the house of the town's noble. He made short work of the guards, and even shorter work of the maids. The target scrambled in fear, begging for mercy. That almost made him stop. After killing the pitiful man, he contemplated his life. He only spent a week every month with the love of his life, the rest of his time devoted to training. Which side of him was the real him? He planted the false evidence, and sent the horse scurrying away with the flag of the next town over.

He took his place on stage once more, as word started to spread of an assassin from Roseville killing their noble. "I warned you, Tharizdun will not have mercy," he said. "Remember the name of your Prophet!" he proclaimed as people looked up at him in the fear he has grown to love and need. "I am Kahs Inferno."

Control

Khai squeezed his lover's hand in an attempt at self control. He was still forty, and he was still a liar. He endured each day in painful torment, living two lives and two lies. He wished he could choose.

It was another human. Casual abuse in a tavern was expected, but this was the first time Zephyr was with him. It was the first time he couldn't fight back.

He didn't need to. Zephyr stood up, half drunk, and started berating the human. "How DARE you speak to my boyfriend like that!" he slurred. "He's a person, just like you or me! And he's a very kind person, at that! And if you have anything mean to say to him, you'll have to go through me, first!" The tiny elf was dwarfed in comparison to the burly human, but his words had effect, and the man stumbled off back to his table. Zephyr grabbed Khai's hand and started dragging him out. "We don't want to drink in a place where they serve bigots!" he yelled.

When they were outside, Khai hugged Zephyr tightly. "You shouldn't have to deal with that," the elf said. "Not my Khai." Khai held him tight, letting tears flow for the first time in years. "My Khai Mercy."

Guilty

"Khai?" Zephyr whispered, nudging him awake. In their nights together, they were both timeless. "Khai, I have to tell you something." Khai sat up and took the elf's hands in his.

"What is it, my love? Do you want me to play for you?" Zephyr started crying, and told his story.

"That man from the tavern came to my shop today. He's known for being a horrible person, extorting businesses and and doing things to children... he even made a rude comment to a passing woman on his way in. I was so angry at him. He asked me for a remedy, and I don't know what came over me. I gave him the wrong ingredients..." the elf bawled and turned away from Khai. "I gave him poison... I've killed him!" Khai was shocked, but he understood. He wrapped his arms around his lover and consoled him. "It wasn't your fault," he said. "You couldn't control yourself. You thought you were doing the right thing. You rid the world of another evil." He spoke words he wished would be spoken to himself.

"I'm a horrible person," Zephyr said, "I'm worse than that demon all the travelers talk about. They called him Inferno," he said as Khai's heart dropped. "Kahs Inferno."

Mercy

Khai reached through the cell bars. He had lived forty years, and had always thought they would be in opposite positions. "I'll get you out of this, I promise." He stroked the elf's face, the face he had always longed to touch, now dirtied by prison, but still beautiful in his eyes.

"How can you?" Zephyr asked. "I'm going to die tomorrow, and I deserve it."

"Listen to me," the tiefling said. "You deserve nothing but the best from this world. You are innocent in my eyes, and you always will be. You are good, and if you could see good in me, then you must be even more so. If it weren't for you, I would be dead, and so might the many others you've healed. Indirectly killing a monster doesn't take that all away."

"But what could you do to save me? There are guards, and soldiers, and no one will let me walk for murder. Better you leave me here to rot."

"Everything will be clear tomorrow," he said. "I can't live without you, Zephyr, I won't. You said you'd always be here for me, and now's my turn to be here for you." He slipped a ring out of his sleeve and knelt on the ground. "Zephyr, you've always shown me Mercy. Now be it in name, and I will be yours forever."

Inferno

Zephyr Mercy walked up to the block slowly, his head hung low. He was only a hundred-fifty, young for an elf, but he was a murderer. He scanned the crowd that had gathered. He saw many faces he recognized, people he was friends with, but he didn't see the one he wanted.

"Better he doesn't see this," he thought, twisting the ring on his finger. "Better he doesn't see me die."

He knelt at the chopping block, closing his eyes as he readied himself for death. He heard a commotion, and assumed his friends were protesting, and that the headsman must be on his way. But then he heard a voice: HIS voice. He looked up to see Khai, but it wasn't Khai. This was clearly a fighter, a warrior, certainly a Prince of Hell. Why did he look so like the one he loved?

The tiefling was standing on the body of the headsman, wielding what looked like harp-scythe hybrid. He spun it and strummed the strings, and people around him started screeching, holding their hands to their ears as if in pain. But Zephyr was unharmed, as were most of the other commoners.

The tiefling walked to him and picked him up, then dashed out of town quicker than anything. "Khai?" Zephyr asked softly as he lay limp in the monster's arms. "Are you Kahs Inferno?"

Truth

Khai was nervous. He was living in a moment outside of time, moving both too fast and too slow simultaneously. He was sitting with Zephyr in a small tower that was once a prison, but he had cleared out for this. It had always been full, but now was barren without the bars and cots.

He told Zephyr everything. His life before meeting him, his double life while knowing him. He told him all the people he had killed. He knew the exact number.

"I wish I could say they were all horrible people. Some of them were. But I also killed innocents, and I took money for it. I enjoyed it sometimes, but most of the time I hated it. I hated myself for doing it, I hated myself for lying to you, and I hate myself now." He turned away and faced the window. "If you want you can leave. There's money in my pack, you can take it all and buy yourself a new home somewhere. You don't have to see me ever again." He closed his eyes and felt the tears drip down his face. He heard the elf stand up, and then felt his hand on his shoulder. "Come with me," Zephyr said. "I'll leave Kahs behind, but only if you leave him too."

Khai turned back to face his love. In that moment, he saw the same face that he first saw: an elf's face, soft, caring, and worrying for him. "I'll do my best," he said as he started to sob. "I'll just be your Khai."

Happy

Khai and Zephyr crested the hill, hand in hand. They had been together for fifteen years, and it had been five years since they started adventuring together. They traveled the continent, observed wonderful magics, witnessed tremendous battles, and experienced the truest of loves.

"Look, there's the town!" Zephyr exclaimed. He started to run, pulling Khai along behind him.

As they entered, Khai pulled out his lyre. He began to play and Zephyr began to sing, together performing a beautiful melody that attracted all the townsfolk. Their song was so entrancing, one would think the festival was in town. Okay, maybe Khai added a bit of magic to make people more festive, but what was the harm in making people happy? He and Zephyr wandered the town as they played, children following and singing along. Zephyr dropped some magical ingredients, causing flowers and grass to grow behind them as they danced through. By the time the sun had set a few hours later, the town was so overjoyed at their arrival that the inn gave them a room for free. "Just don't be too noisy, you hear?" The innkeeper said with a wink.

"Oh, I won't," Zephyr said, as he looked to where Khai was sitting, playing music as he told a story to some of the children. "I can't promise he won't, though," he joked with a laugh. Zephyr was free, Khai was finally just Khai, and they were both happy.