Prologue..

Pain.

Blinding pain.

I feel it as my skin is punctured, feel the blood as it slowly drips from my wounds.

All of this to protect my so called 'master'.

I stand once more, as I was ordered, the ear splitting shrieks of the creatures attacking me drowning out all thought.

I cannot run. I cannot hide. I must fight. I must protect the man I'd once thought kind. I must not give up. I know I will die.

He is gone. He ran after using kotodama on me, controlling my every move.

I hate him. I want him dead.

My hair, lank and soaked from the rain, hangs limply against my bloody back, long lashes that sting as the drops hit them mercilessly.

I do not know what these creatures are. They appear to be some kind of spirit, but have the abilities of koma-oni. Their forms flicker like candles.

I howl like a wounded animal when my right arm is suddenly hanging at an awkward angle. Already, I know, at this rate, I will die.

But until then, I am trapped in my own mind. I am unable to control my own body.

It is the times like this that you ponder insignifigant things.

I am merely a single koma-oni. Will anyone care if I die?

My many years have been filled with suffering. Once, long ago, I had a kind master. She had been gentle, and had done her best to make sure I was healthy and happy.

But then...she grew old..and died. She left me, as all of my masters would. Compared to a single koma-oni, our human masters lifespan could be put as only a tiny speck of our own.

I had adored that master. And so, when I found my next master and realized how cruel he was..I realized just how cruel the human race could be.

One master fed me by hitting me over and over again until I was so bloody I could barely move.

Another starved me.

My own kind were my only refuge, and within their ranks, I felt safe.

I met a koma-oni not long after I had been sealed in the Sacred Tree.

His name was Hyoue.

I could see that he was devestated over the death of his former master. I could see that he had been abandoned, cast aside as though he didn't matter.

During the Demon Hunt festival, the third since I had been resealed, I waited with another while our comrades went hunting.

He had not judged me, merely asked if I was not participating.

And then..Hyoue, of all koma-oni, appeared from the tree, taking a seat against its large trunk.

I had been so baffled...

Returning to my own thoughts, I try to stop my body from doing this, try to save myself while I still can...

But I know I can't.

I am a mere koma-oni.

A mere tool.

A servant.

But how did I get here?

This is my story..