The Devilish Daemon
By MissieCeelee
Chapter 2:
What to Expect when you Expect Wings
A/N: This chapter pretty much explains the whole rest of this story; make sure you pay extra close attention! More notes at the bottom! Enjoy!
DAEMONHOOD: WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU EXPECT WINGS
BY PERSEUS ALPHIUS
Draco nearly groaned at the cheesy pun.
So, the only book he'd managed to get his hands on was written by a non-Daemon? And a corny one, at that? A writer who also seemed to enjoy making horrible puns and spoofs of pregnancy books? Helpful. He blamed his father for not telling him what to expect, and now he had to read this confounded book to find out some basic facts.
Sighing ruefully, the mini Malfoy flipped through the volume, already bored, and only stopped to read certain sections that looked intriguing. As he skimmed, he briefly noted that Daemons could only apparently be male, because it had something to do with the Y chromosome. Actually, scientifically speaking, it appeared that Daemons actually had an extra set of chromosomes. Another section that caught his eye said:
Daemons are particularly known for their tempers; a good way to tell if a child may eventually reach Daemonhood is if the child displays particular irritability, snobbiness and mainly anger. If a child has a quick temper and Daemon blood runs through your family, you might want to sit him down and give him a chat about "The Birds and the Daemons." When a Daemon reaches adulthood and becomes angered, their eyes usually change into a silvery, hard color (though some cases of other colors have been reported). When this occurs, it is best to avoid any confrontation with said Daemon, or to get the Daemon's mate to try to calm him down (though his mate could also excite him even more, if you get what I mean).
Draco absorbed all of the information cooly, until he reached the bit about mates, that is.
He swore, flinging the book across his bedroom as he kicked a nearby chair, accidentally reducing it to splinters. Oops-that chair had been how old? Three hundred years? Or was it four? Oh, well...
As he barely contained his rage, Draco once again picked up the stupid book, almost ripping the pages apart as he looked for anything about "mates." He stumbled across the phrase a few more times, and it was finally expounded upon at the end of the book.
Young love; though it is never perfect, it always exists. For Daemons, it doesn't usually pop up until at least three months after their first transformation (anywhere from three months to a year, depending on the individual). However, Daemons have it quite a bit harder than most teenage boys. Say a Daemon (let's call him Jerry) has known a girl (called June, for explanation's sake) his whole life; Jerry has only entirely platonic feelings toward June, and they are simply friends, never more. However, one day, Jerry suddenly feels extreme, undying attraction for this girl that he's never, ever viewed in a romantic light before. This, my friends, is a fabulous example of Daemon mating. If a Daemon is denied his mate, he becomes quite a savage monster. If a Daemon doesn't receive the consensual "okay" from his mate by the time he turns seventeen (unless his original transformation was delayed...see page 394 for details), bad things happen. Always in his Daemonic state, a rejected Daemon will go away from civilization entirely and move to unoccupied areas (they are known to be particularly fond of the woods), preying on the local wildlife similarly to a werewolf or rouge vampire.
Daemons are designed quite well, but mating is one of their fatal flaws. Once a Daemon finds his mate, he will do anything and everything for her, and ceases to concentrate on himself. Of course, some may view this as romantic, but it is, in reality, extremely impractical, because of possibly unrequited love. If a Daemon has found his mate and she doesn't love him back, the Daemon cannot function normally in everyday life.
The Daemon currently reading that section put his head in his hands, completely disgusted that he hadn't known these things. Who in their right mind wouldn't tell their own son such important details? Each new fact he read made Draco ever more hateful toward his father, and the resentment seemed to be filling up his "Dam of Patience" quite efficiently.
Draco decided to take a walk to clear his muggy head.
The wings were a permanent fixture on a Daemon's back; the book had gone deeper into the mechanics of things, but all Draco really wanted to do was learn how to use the things.
Alright, not a problem. Let's do this! He thought optimistically, climbing a very spiral staircase to the mansion's roof. How hard can it be? Just a bit of flapping here and there, that's all.
Oh, how wrong our poor Daemon was!
The ground had never been a less welcomed sight. For there, as Draco foolishly dove from the shingled roof top, he had never felt like more of an idiot in his entire life.
He fell, and fell, and fell, and fell, and fell. The wings strapped on his back felt like the most useless thing poor Draco had ever encountered; they simply weighed him down even more, propelling him even faster toward the hard ground. Our young Malfoy closed his eyes, just waiting for his upcoming, impending death.
What a great way to end both the Malfoy and the Daemon lines, the boy thought, both highly sarcastic and highly terrified.
Suddenly, all of the motion around him stopped, and he felt himself lying on the ground. Afraid of what he might find, Draco slowly cracked open an eyelid. Now, the sight was quite shocking...and not in a horrible way at all! Why, after falling at least a hundred feet from the roof, there was hardly even a scratch on the Daemon's body. Completely baffled, Draco quickly sprinted back to his room (in a very dignified manner, mind you), picking up the seemingly factless book in hope of an explanation.
And he found just the information on page 45.
A Daemon has a very toned down nervous system compared to humans; why, it can be said that they've "got no feelin' 'eart in 'em," quite frankly! Daemons' nerve receptors pick up all of the same signals, but do not seem to transport pain messages as easily, thus making them up to four times as resistant to pain as humans. Their bones and muscle are also much more durable and tough. Why, if a human falls from a tower, they end up KER-SPLAT on the ground. A Daemon, however, could most likely walk away with a few broken bones, maximum. The reasoning behind this quite sensible; a Daemon is much more likely to be falling from the sky...they do have wings, after all!
He shook his head, still quite stunned. Feelings of both amazement and excitement began to wash over him as he thought about his new found strength and the freedom it could give him.
Maybe I won't have to yield to my father anymore...maybe I can get out of this cult somehow...
With those unheard of thoughts, Draco decided that he had to find his godfather.
A/N: Yay! Chapter two! I'd like to thank my first (and only thus far) reviewer, BlueDragon22! Thanks for reviewing, it means a lot!
Please review! I must apologize for the lack of romance thus far; Draco IS just getting into the whole Daemon thing, after all. Next chapter shall blow your minds with love, I promise! The whole mating thing? Yeah, it's coming, bro! :D
Hasta luego!
~MissieCeelee
