A/N- Lots of people seems to be wondering about the raven Death…. I'll write down some stuff about him soon.

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The fog hung low over the burnt-out shell of the castle, turning it into a blurry, charred ghost, looming over the slaughtered bodies. They reeked they way only rotting corpses could, especially after three days in the summer heat.

Kal picked his way around the tangled mass of his kills, searching for one relatively undamaged. Maggots, white and squirming, writhed on the flesh of the dead, feasting away. Kal was used to this gruesome sight; it's a thing one gets used to after fifteen years or so of dealing with death.

Kal wondered about the numbers of his victims. This makes…how many? Two hundred? More? He paused by the bodies of the Lord and Lady; each lay less than a foot away from the other. The Lady's attractive face was marred by five deep grooves, each going to the one. More maggots squirmed in theses grooves, some falling down her neck, like an eerie brace. Her mouse-brown hair was darker, caked from the roots onward with rusty blood.

The Lord lay facedown, though his eyes, what was left of them, looked up blankly at the sky, the neck snapped all the way around. His throat, or rather, lack of it, was a gaping, red mouth. His dark blonde hair, which his daughter had inherited, was in the same state as the Lady's.

Kal stared emotionlessly down at the two, then continued on his way. He felt no remorse, no guilt. He couldn't even remember such emotions. I probably felt them after…after I killed Karen. The memory of said incident, though as foggy and vague as the mist that was swirling around him, was never far from his mind.

"There we are…" Kal said out-loud as he stopped. Sprawled at his feet was the body of a male servant, whose clothes were relatively undamaged. Kal hooked his foot under the servant and rolled him over onto his back. The corps's arms and head lolled like a rag doll. . Kal guessed that he must've broken this one's neck, as there was not blood on the shirt.

Peeling the shirt off of the dead servant's body, Kal shook it free of maggots, then held it at arm's length in front of him. It would be a little too tight at the shoulders, since the servant had narrower shoulder than he, but that didn't matter much. Kal pulled it over his head, barely noticing the scent of rotting human, then took his leave of the courtyard.

A bone yard now, really, he thought absently as he stepped over a body that was blocking the exit.

Kal normally wasn't in the habit of taking the dead's clothes, but since he was going into the village, he would need a shirt. His scars were bound to attract attention. He could illusion his skin to appear a tan color that was common for farmers and peasants, but there wasn't a thing he could do to hide the scars. Magic didn't come easy to him; it was hard enough to change his skin color and the whites of his eyes. Conjuring fog was one of the abilities he was born with; he could do that since he was a newborn, since it didn't need any magical strength. Physical strength was the other. Even if he was a moment away from death, he was a thousand times stronger than any demon, and double that of any human.

Those who knew this kept their distance.

The others figured it out before he killed them.

He had inherited telepathy from his mother, but it wasn't very effective. He could sense thoughts if a person was near him; a few feet away, and he couldn't sense anything at all. Like my father wrote down, Kal thought, smiling wryly. I'm built only to kill. A born killer. Evil. Kal stopped that train of thought before it could reach the other part of that particular sentence.

Built to kill…or to protect.

It wasn't long before Kal reached the village. Not many were out; the fog was the cause of that. But there was a small crowd here and there, moving slowly through the dirt streets. A few aimed some curious glances at Kal's grass-stained shirt, tattered breeches, and lack of shoes, but then moved on. After all, people dressed as he weren't uncommon. Kal kept his head lowered slightly so that they wouldn't see his different-color eyes. The black one was fine; the pale violet one would cause alarm.. Like his tangled, waist-length hair, that glimmered with barely-visible purple tints when the light struck it, his eyes were symbol. A symbol of death and a prophet long-forgotten by most of humankind.

The symbol of Kalendrakk, the last Raven demon.

Kal wandered down the streets, making the fog thicker and heavier as he went. Soon, the crowds broke up and went cautiously and slowly about retuning to their homes.

Kal lifted his head and sniffed the air. His acute sense of smell picked up dirt, garbage, fog, animals, the sickening stench of humans…and food.

A few yards ahead lay a bread shop. On the window were two loaves of bread, set out to cool. Kal grabbed them both and put them in the straw basket he had found outside someone's door. In the basket, someone had put half a dozen eggs.

Alright then. Practically a meal. The Princess can't complain. At least I'm bothering to feed her.

Having what he came for, Kal checked that no-one was looking, then took off the shirt and put it in the basket as well. As soon as he did, his allowed his wings to sprout from his back. The fog made wet droplets of water gather on the fathers, which were as black as his skin and hair. The feathers, which many discovered the hard way, were as strong as steel and sharp as razors, a weapon like the rest of him. Due to this, the weight of the wings would have made any other collapse, and they certainly wouldn't be able to fly. That was one of the reasons for Kal's almost-limitless strength; without it, he would barely be able to walk five paces, let alone run, fly, and fight.

Kal flapped his lethal black wings and flew up, disturbing the fog and making in swirl around like phantom spirits. Soon, he was high above the village, basket in one hand, headed for the shack where the Princess was.

Kal?

He had only been airborne for a few minutes when Death's voice sounded in his head.

-what?-

The Princess…I believe she is ill. She seems to be running a fever.

-so? why should I care about any of this?-

Kal, please…won't you at least get her some medication?

-no. she'll get better on her own-

What if she doesn't?

-then that's one less problem for me to worry about-

Torelie would be disgusted with you, Death told him, obviously upset.

-DO NOT SPEAK HER NAME TO ME!- Kal exploded. The force of his mental shout would most likely cause the raven to wheel around disorientated for a while, but Kal didn't care at the moment. How dare that bird use his mother's…his biological mother's…name. The one who named him…who gave her son a name composed of two words of their language…she and his father as much condemned him as the humans did!

-shut up, shut up, shut up!- Kal continued to yell, not aware that Death had fallen silent a while ago. The blood red whites of his eyes glowed like hot embers as he dove out of the air. He was still a ways from the shack, he would know, had his rational mind not shut down. Kal began lashing out at the thick, ancient trees, some over a hundred years old, shattering their trunks with his free hand as easily as human did matchsticks. He was cursing at the top of his lungs in the tongue of Raven demons as he did so, shouting his throat hoarse. This continued for another minute before he finally stopped, breathing heavily in a ring of fallen trees. The back and knuckles of his left hand dripped blood, torn open from knocking down the trees.

Kal took a deep breath in and closed his eyes briefly, trying to gather himself, hiding the emotions he could feel behind his icy and pitiless eyes.

Then he turned and began walking in the direction of the shack, stepping over the broken trees oozing sap.

You startled the Princess, Death informed him hesitantly.

-gods forbid I do that- he replied sarcastically, wiping the blood off of his hand on his breeches. What did it matter? He didn't care what she thought, and he'd be rid of her soon. One way or another.

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Allie flinched as she heard Kal screaming something in a foreign language and what sounded like trees crashing. What was wrong with him?

She brushed her hair out of her face and leaned against the wall. The lack of windows made the small house feel uncomfortably hot, though an occasional breeze filtered through cracks in the wall. Her head was starting to fell too warm, and, on top of everything, she was covered in soot.

There was the sound of soft footstep and Kal opened to door, carrying a basket. His breeches had a new streak of blood on them, and his left hand was bloody and torn.

"What happened to you?" she asked, not bothering to sound polite.

"Nothing." he told her simply, then set the basket down on the chair. Lighting some wood that was in the stove with an almost empty box of matches, he took two eggs from the basket and cracked them into a skillet that was on the stovetop. Allie's mouth watered at the smell of the food. She felt guilty for thinking about how hungry she was when the residents of the entire castle, including her parents, were murdered, but there wasn't anything she could do about that, was there?

Kal was whistling quietly under his breath as he prepared the eggs, then flipped them onto an old, cracked wooden plate. He grabbed a loaf of bread from the basket, then walked over to Allie and handed her both. "Here."

She took them after a pause. "Merci." She noticed that he didn't give her a fork or any utensil too eat the eggs with, then supposed that he didn't have any. She shrugged and ate with her fingers. No-one was there to criticize her, and she highly doubted that Kal cared about propriety.

As she ate, Kal put out the fire with a pitcher of water that was next to the stove, then sat down on the chair, after taking a book from the leather sack. Allie, glancing at it, recognized it to be the on with the plain black cover and the runes inside.

"Can you read that?" she asked. Kal flipped through the book, not looking at her.

"Maybe."

"What language is it written in? An what kind of alphabet?" Curiosity killed the cat, Allie thought to herself. But satisfaction brought it back.

This time Kal did look at her, and she involuntarily flinched, for the second time. She didn't like his eyes…they were cruel eyes. Angry eyes. Like those of a rabid animal, or a dog that's been abused.

And he certainly looks abused, she thought, eyes flicking to the patchwork of scars that was his skin again.

"The language is the same that you head me cursing in not that long ago," he said, smiling slightly. "And the alphabet is Runic. Why does it matter to you, Princess? Planning on pawing through my belongings again?"

"I was just curious," she defended herself. She set the empty plate and the now-half a loaf of bread down, crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you, anyways?"

"Kal, like I've told you."

"I know that. I meant are you a demon."

Kal crossed his legs and arched an eyebrow. "Some call me that."

Allie rolled her eyes. I guess that means "yes". "You live here, then?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes not." He put the book back in the bag and began staring at her.

Allie squirmed, wondering if he was trying to make her uncomfortable on purpose. If he was , he was definitely succeeding. "Your...hand." She said, changing the subject with the first thing that came to mind.

"What about it?"

"It's bleeding."

"Thank you for pointing that out, Princess."

"Are you alright? Because I could bandage it if you want."

Kal's body tensed, and he narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Well, it looks painful, so-"

He cut her off. "It's nothing more than a graze, and I don't need your concern nor your pity." Kal seemed to relax a bit. "Aren't you acting oddly friendly to the thing that murdered your family?"

Allie fiddled with a lock of hair, a nervous habit of hers. "I can't do anything for them," she said. "They're dead, and nothing I can do will bring them back, so I figure why not help the people that need it?"

"You figure wrong. I don't need your help, any your in no position to suggest that I do. If you annoy me, which you are doing right now, I can kill you without a second's hesitation. Got it, Princess?"

Allie blinked in surprise. "What's happened that put you in such a bad mood?"

"You," he said shortly, then stood up and limped to the door. "I'm going out. Leave if you want, stay if you must. I don't care." He closed the door behind him. After a while, his footsteps faded away and Allie felt tired.

How can I be tired? I slept for three days! She though, and giggled. Using three of the blankets as a mattress and the other as a pillow, she lay down and closed her eyes. The blankets smelled faintly of smoke, feathers, and blood.

How do I go from laying in my room one day, and in a demon's house on the floor the next?

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Kal limped angrily through the forest. In what world did a human offer him concern? In what universe did a human offer him concern? In what dimension would one believe Kalendrakk was offered kindness?

None, that was the answer.

And he hated it. He hated the Princess for asking him, hated her for not dying like she was supposed to, hated her for the part she played in his father's prophecy.

He hated everyone, for that matter. Even Death, which was the closet thing that he could call a "friend." That raven had stayed with him ever since he was four, and showed nothing but concern for Kal, even after Kal killed his adoptive mother. And yet Kal still hated him. Why?

Maybe because I can't feel happiness…or kindness...or love...or any of those useless feelings. Hate's the emotion that's kept me alive all these years.

And I'll continue to hate. Sun, humans, demons, ravens…everything. I'll die hating, if I ever die.

Kal pressed his fingers to his temples. His thoughts were driving him insane, and all because of that damned Princess.

He stopped as a demon slithered out of the bushes. A snake demon, perhaps. It stood at ten feet tall, covered in dark green scales, and was vaguely human-like.

"You are not welcome here, Kalendrakk. Leave," it hissed.

Kal stared at it, hands clenching into fists. He wanted this demon to fight him, hw wanted it to hurt him. Kal wanted to loose his thoughts in a fight, having to think of nothing but delivering the next blow, dodging his opponents attack.

"Make me, bastard," he growled at the snake demon.

"I will, sssssincce you've asssked," it said, then rushed at him, baring needle-like fangs.

Kal raised his hands, long claws ready to attack the demon. Now this I can live with.

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At dark, Kal limped back to the house. After defeating the snake demon, he had continued on through the forest until he ran into a bat demon. After that, he found a spider demon. And after that, a shape-shifter. By the time the sun set, his chest and arms were riddled with new cuts, and there was a circular burn where the spider demon, who happened to be able to spit an acidic-like substance, had burned him. But he had vented his temper, and his mind was calm.

Opening the door, he found that the Princess was asleep. To his amusement, she snored softly as he watched. Smiling faintly, he closed the door and lay down on the floor, the cool wood feeling good against his back. He doubted he would sleep; he didn't want to sleep. He would most likely just close his eyes and wait for the sun to rise again, listening to the night.

Kal's breathing regulated as he lay perfectly still. The Princess sleeping a few feet away disturbed him; he was not used to having someone in the same room as himself.

Maybe I should dump her outside, he thought, then threw away the idea. She'd probably just crawl back inside.

Kal's eyes flicked around under his lids as one of his memories surfaced, perfectly clear.

A small raven hatchling was perched on a bleached skull. A human skull. It cawed at him loudly.

A little raven demon? Why are you so far away from home, boy?

"Don't got a home no more. The humans..."

Oh. They raided the village, didn't they?

He rubbed his eyes, as if that would stop him from crying. "They killed everybody."

I'm sorry, raven boy, it croaked. My family also went to the afterlife, as well. It quirked its head. You're Kalendrakk, are you not?

"No! Don't call me that! I'm Kal! KAL!

As you wish. Kalen--- Kal. How old are you?

"Only four...today's my birthday."

Happy birthday, Kal.

"Thanks... can you come with me? To the human village? I'll get lonely."

Of course. Ravens and raven demons always stand together. Or, fly together, actually.

"I can't fly yet, really. I'm too little."

Well, good. Neither can I. You'll carry me?

He brightened. "Yep. You'll be my friend?"

How about mutual acquaintances?

"Ummm... I don't know what that means, but ok."

Kal frowned. That was so long ago…the mere fifteen years seemed like a century to him. Back then, he didn't have blood on his hands. He could still smile without bitterness in his soul. His heart didn't ache from the bullets of humans. He could still feel.

That's life, Kal. You're evil, you're a murderer, you're a heartless abomination--a Kalendrakk, if you will-- and that won't change.

Kal rolled over on his side and smiled to himself. Soon, the Princess would leave, and he could live alone in peace, without her reminding him of his past, once more.