Would you choose to gain the knowledge and destroy the world? Or would you choose to stay and be content at where you are in the great Balance that is Existence?
/Is the desire to be greater stronger than the risk of failure, or is the risk of failure enough to stop the desire of being greater? Or would you choose option 3, 4, or 5?/
Are there options 3, 4, and 5? Or are there only yes and no?
- Conversation between the Darker Dragon, Kurai Tatsu
And
the Chaos Dragon, Kaosu Tatsu
The Shadow of a Demon
Prologue: The Simple Truth
By: Silver Star
"Mommy, where is Daddy going?" asked the little blond girl, big blue eyes shining in puzzlement. "When is he coming back?"
The woman beside her looked down and smiled, but that smile did not reach her eyes. The woman's eyes looked almost dead, as if something had sucked all the life out of them, but when she looked at the little blond girl, a little of her normal liveliness came back to her. The woman knelt down and hugged the little girl tightly, eyes shut, lips smiling, yet she felt no joy. Only an emptiness where He used to be.
"I'm sorry, honey, but Daddy won't be coming back any more," the woman whispered, not looking up or letting the little girl go.
"Why, Mommy?" the little girl cried, jerking away from the embrace, wide eyes pleading for an answer. "Why won't Daddy come back? Is it because of me? Did I do something wrong? Please, Mommy, tell me! I promise I'll be good then he can come home again!" The little girl began to cry, fat crystal teardrops rolling down her cheeks.
The older woman let her fake smile drop and hugged the little girl again, rubbing the small child's back in a comforting motion. "Shhh, honey, it's alright. It's not your fault that he left us. Not your fault, you hear?" The woman closed her eyes, feeling her own tears coming. "Your father and I were not meant to be together. He has his duty, and I have mine. We cannot be together, no matter how much we want to. It's not your fault, honey, it's not." The woman looked down and smiled a bright but fake smile through her tears. "And remember this, little one, both of us are very proud to have you. It's not your fault, and it will never be your fault."
The woman looked up over the little girl's head and saw the dark dot moving steadily away, fading until it became nothing. He was finally gone, disappearing from both His wife and His child's life.
Three years ago, the woman had made the mistake of falling in love with the servant of a powerful demon lord. But they were not meant to be together. No, the Golden Dragons and the Demon race were not meant to be together at all, no matter how much they loved each other. They had tried, of course, running away, hiding their identities, assuming different names, even changing their outward appearance. But in the end, they were found anyway. Now there was nothing she could do any more, except watch Him walk out of her life forever.
Slowly, the woman stood up and linked hands with the little blond girl. "Come on, honey, let's go inside. It's getting a bit cold out here." The little girl sniffled and then nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.
"Mommy, you won't leave me as well, will you?" the little girl asked hesitantly, peering up timidly, afraid of the answer, yet afraid of not knowing the answer even more.
The woman smiled down slightly. "No, honey, I won't leave you. Not now, not ever." The little girl began to smile and then she started to walk slowly toward the house behind them. The woman watched the retreating back of her child and felt tears coming. It was almost as if not only her Husband, but her Child was walking away from her as well. She shook her head roughly, setting her long silver white hair swishing right and left almost wildly. Then she opened her eyes and looked at her daughter sadly.
Oh my daughter, my dear Filia, please, don't make the same mistake as the one I had made.
~ * * ~
Several miles away from the woman, a lone man with long blond hair and emerald green slit-pupil eyes walked down the dusty path. His dark, simple, yet elegant traveler's garb marked him as someone rich and powerful, yet, he was alone. Strapped to his belt is a long slender sword. The carving of a skeleton head could be seen clearly, despite the fact that it was covered within the shadow of his black cloak. He didn't have to walk. He could've just teleport to wherever he wanted to go, but he did not. His powers came from the fact that he was, and still is, a Mazoku, and it was this very reason that he had just left his wife and child. He didn't want to be reminded of this fact. He didn't want to remember that he had just left the only two people he cared for behind, probably to a pain filled death.
The blond man, or rather Mazoku, did not hold the illusion that his master will spare them. No, his master would probably kill them just to punish him for defying her.
The blond Mazoku stopped abruptly then fell to his knees in shock and pain. His head felt as if it's going to explode as the mental attack came in waves after wave. He knew whom it was from, of course. The signature of that attack was way too obvious.
A few seconds later, the dusty path was once again empty of life. The man was gone.
~ * * ~
The blond Mazoku appeared in a soft flash of gold and knelt down immediately. His right hand was holding his head but his right arm was across his chest in a sign of respect and obedience. He screwed his eyes shut, feeling the pain intensified instead of lessen, but he let out no sound at all.
"Mistress," he finally managed, gasping slightly at the effort. "You called me?"
For a long moment there was no sound except for the blond Mazoku's occasional gasp of pain, and the clinking of ice against glass. A puff of smoke drifted down and the Mazoku fought against coughing.
"You really disappoint me, Zain," the voice was feminine and cold, yet sensual at the same time. "You not only defied my orders, but also married that little Dragon bitch. And had a child, no less."
Zain fought against whimpering as the pain intensified even more.
"I believe you should be punished." There was a smug tone to the feminine voice and Zain cringed at the possibilities.
In a flash of darkness, a young man dressed in a dark cloak appeared beside him. "You called for me, Mother?" There was a teasing tone in the young man's voice and Zain gritted his teeth in annoyance. Then he decided that it was a bad thing to do when it simply made the pain in his head worse.
"Why, yes," the woman said, letting out another puff of smoke. "I have a little job for you to do." There was a short pause and Zain felt the cold eyes of his Mistress on his form. "I believe there are some garbage for you to take out." The blond Mazoku snapped up his head in shock then he fell forward with a scream of pain. It felt as if his mind was being torn apart, and he knew that it was true. He writhed on the cold ground; every nerve on his body was fired up with white, hot pain. A few seconds later, the blond Mazoku's body stopped moving.
The young man looked down slightly and smiled in disdain. He then bowed down before his Mother and Mistress, dark straight purple bangs covering his eyes. The crimson orb on top of his staff glowed red for an instant as his eyes opened. Piercing amethyst jewels looked up and he smiled a wicked smile. "Your wish is my command."
~ * * ~
Up in the dark night sky, a lone Golden Dragon flew toward a destination only she knew. Blood covered one of her wings as well as her silver white hair. Within her claws is a small bundle, and within that bundle is a golden haired child, sleeping peacefully, unaware of her mother's suffering.
The Golden Dragon could see it now, and if she continue to fly at this speed, she should arrive at her destination within an hour. She felt relieve fill her, even as her lifeblood continued to flow from the wound on her wings and her back. But she didn't care about herself, only the child within her grasp.
She should have known they would come to kill her and her child. She should've expected that, but she didn't, and now she must pay the price for her stupidity. She was dying. She knows that, of course, and she accepted it, but it didn't stop her from feeling the pain deep in her heart.
The silver towers of the Temple of the Fire Dragon King came closer and closer toward her. She used to be one of the elders of that Temple, one of the most powerful ones, in fact, but she had given that position up for Him. No one had known that she had given it up for the love of a Mazoku, of course. They all had thought that she simply couldn't take the pressure any more, so she knew that her child, with her Mazoku side bound and blocked, would be safe here.
Slowly, the Golden Dragon descended, landing clumsily because of the stiffness and pain on her wings. A bright golden light flashed and the female screamed in pain as she turned to her human form, feeling the bones and the flesh in her body rearrange themselves, tearing the wounds apart even further.
The scream brought the attention of the dragons that lived in the Temple and within seconds, a dozen guards emerged from the entrance. Behind them came the Elders of the Temple, with Saichiro at the very front. All of them were surprised at the sight of her, but what was even more surprising was the fact that she was beaten to near death.
The woman fell forward with another strangled scream, arms clutched tightly to the now much larger bundle. The two-year-old blond girl inside slept on despite the screaming since her mother had laid a sleep spell on her hours ago.
"Philaris!" Saichiro called out as he run over and knelt beside the dying dragon. "Philaris, what happened? Why are you like this?" Several of the Elders, Saichiro included, began to chant a healing spell, but Philaris knew it won't do much good. The poison had been in her system for several hours, now, and it's impossible to get rid of the poison after it had spread.
"Take- take her," Philaris choked out, tasting blood in her mouth, some trailing down her chin. "Take my child...and let no-" she paused, coughing up even more blood. "Let no danger come to her...please... Her- her name is...Filia...Filia Ul Copt."
~ * * ~
To be continued...
~ * * ~