Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is not owned by me… I think… therefore I am…?
Summary: Princess Sarah of Sylvan lived a quiet life, day after day, the same routine. When a demon, a fae, the same species that had slaughtered her mother years before, drops in front of her, her routine shatters. But if he thinks she's just gonna roll over and let him kill her, he's got another thing coming.
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Of Demons and Goblin Kings
By Kadasa Mori
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Chapter 1
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"Sarah… sweetie… my little girl… your mother… she's… she died…"
"What?"
"I…oh my poor Linda…she was killed… killed by a demon… a…a fae!"
"Who? Who was it, daddy?"
"Sarah…"
"His name…"
"Sarah."
"His name was…"
"SARAH! GET YOUR LAZY BUM OUT OF BED!!!"
Letting out a shrill shriek, Princess Sarah Williams of the land of Sylvan fell out of bed. Sitting on the floor, she looked up, blinking at her maid and best friend (also known as "babysitter") Kitsune. The girl's look was dark and angry, amber eyes furious and burning with fire, orange red hair framing a pretty face, pulling back into a low ponytail. She wore a simple brown vest and cream colored dress.
The odd thing about Kitsune was that she was a fox demon. Sarah winced as she began her usual tirade (you know, the "always sleeping in", "so lazy", "never getting anything done", "always creating more work for her" sorta thing). Kitsune looked only a few years older than Sarah's 17, but in reality she was about 40. Kitsune was a red fox, so the tips of her long hair were white with an extra white strand framing her face, a fox tail poking through the back of her skirt and hanging there and two fox ears top her head. Fangs adorned her mouth, claws attached to her fingers. Other than that, she looked human, which was probably the only reason her father allowed Kitsune to stay.
Sarah sighed as the tirade ended and she was dragged off to the bathroom. "Hurry up!" Kitsune snapped and slammed the door.
Sarah winced once more. "Must be that time of the month," she muttered under her breath, hoping the fox wouldn't hear it. Quickly undressing, she stepped into the bathtub and quickly washed her long hair, ducking underwater to cleanse it, shaking her head.
She popped back up and sighed, the water already growing cooler. She must have been asleep too long. Deciding she'd rather not be wrinkled this time, she climbed out ringing out her long hair and wrapping a towel around herself. She glanced at the mirror as she walked by it. Long brown hair fell in a straight curtain to her waist, a nuisance keeping it so long, but she wanted to look like her mother. At least she had her mother's emerald eyes.
"SARAH!" Sighing heavily she stepped back into her room. "Put these on! Quickly!" Kitsune snapped, spinning around.
Sarah rolled her eyes, but did as she asked, pulling the garments on, a simple cotton white shirt, an emerald vest over that and an emerald skirt. "So where's the fire Kit?" Sarah asked, tying up her vest.
"Your father has requested that you stay away from the castle today." Kitsune replied, looking irritable even without facing Sarah. "He said something about the queen giving birth and he didn't want you anywhere near incase you were 'frightened by the shouting.'"
Sarah snorted. "I actually feel bad for the baby."
Kitsune chuckled darkly. "Me too."
Sarah stepped to Kitsune's side and peeked around to the fox's face. "And is anything else the matter?"
Kitsune pouted, crossing her arms. "You know me too well." Sarah just grinned. "Kyle broke up with me."
"What?! Why? I thought you two were clicking!"
"He said I was too loud and too talkative." Sarah was silent. "Sarah…"
"…"
"Sarah! You're supposed to disagree!"
"But… that would be lying."
"GRAWR! SARAH!"
Cackling, Sarah grabbed her bag and took off towards the stables. Once inside she was safe from Kitsune's screaming. Walking down the aisle she smiled warmly as she reached Bella's "room." The mare was a dark maroon color, with a dark mane that fell into her eyes. She was Sarah's other best friend, apart from Kitsune. They spent every morning together, rain or shine, sleet or snow.
"Good morning Bella!" Sarah chimed. Bella nickered as she was let out of her pen. "Let's go riding!" Sarah chirped once she'd finished brushing the mare out. She laughed when Bella whinnied in response. Sarah climbed on, rearranging her skirt to look like she was using a saddle. Her father didn't like it when she rode bareback. "Let's go girl."
Bella nickered, trotting into the forest. Sarah smiled, looking around, feeling at peace with the world, something she rarely felt. She scowled. That means something's about to go oh so terribly wrong in my life… Cursing her luck, Sarah glanced around. No evil bad guys out to kidnap me… Bella's not about to croak… I'm not about to croak… hopefully…
Bella suddenly let lose a whinny and Sarah looked up, only to smile. It was her spot, where only two people could find, herself and Kitsune. Well… Bella as well, seeing as how Sarah usually zoned out and suddenly found herself there. Sliding off of Bella and slinging her bag over her shoulder, Sarah smiled.
"Thank you Bella. You can go back now."
Bella nickered and turned, trotting off. Sarah sighed happily and looked around the small clearing. She walked over to her favorite tree and sat down, leaning back against it. After a moment of relaxing she pulled her book from her bag and began reading.
So involved in her book, she didn't feel the slight tremors headed her way, or hear a roar of some creature close by. She did tune in when the branches in the tree above her rustled and leaves fell onto her book. She blinked… blinked once more and looked up as someone dropped from the tree.
Sarah let out a choked scream, leaping to the side so the tree wasn't against her back as the man crouched a few meters in front of her. "Excuse me?" she asked. "Are you all right?"
The man's head snapped towards her and she froze, eyes wide. He looked like a normal man except for his eyes. They were dark and wild.
He was a demon.
Her mother had once told her of demons…
"They're dark creatures Sarah," Linda whispered. "With power unimaginable."
Five-year-old Sarah clutched the blankets tighter, eyes wide and focused on the words coming out of her mother's mouth.
"They can leap over the tallest mountains, swim in the deepest oceans, hide in the smallest places, be as big as castles!" Sarah gasped. "They have claws that gorge valleys and fangs that rip out pits of the Earth. They could stand in a bottomless pit and still tower over you. They could fly on clouds and swoop down and grab you in their claws." She suddenly turned. "What was that?"
Sarah turned as well. "What?" she squeaked.
"I think… it's a… demon!" Linda grabbed her sides tickling and Sarah squealed. "It's coming to eat you Sarah!"
Now that Sarah saw one, she had no doubt he would eat her, tear her to shreds, enjoy the feel of her warm blood sliding down his throat. She took a step backwards to get away and a leaf cackled under her.
He raised a lip, showing off a fang and slowly got to his feet, heading towards her, only to stumble and raise a hand to his side. Sarah also looked and gasped. An ugly red gash decorated his right side. He snapped his dark eyes up to her. A crash in the nearby brush made both look.
"Go!" he hissed at her and turned to face whatever was coming.
She looked surprised and he snatched up the sword he'd discarded as a huge beast, obviously another demon, crashed through the trees. It had spiraled horns coming to the edge of each side of its gigantic mouth, filled with sharp teeth. It reminded Sarah of a minotaur with hooves on its feet, razor sharp claws on the ends of its hands, covered in a deep purple hair. Beady red eyes focused on the man-demon and it let out a roar running at him. He leapt backwards, misjudging the distance and crashed into Sarah who squealed, falling over. The beast kept charging and ran into a tree.
The demon on her sat up and turned looking at her, eyes narrowed. "I said go!" he snarled darkly.
Her eyes widened again but she didn't have time to move because the bull had pulled its head from the tree trunk was charging them. For the first time in her life, she froze and couldn't move. Am I going to die here? she thought frantically, urging her limbs to move.
An arm wrapped around her waist and a moment later she was in the limbs of a tall tree, looking down at the bull who kept running. She turned to look at her captor who glared at her. "I told you to move," he hissed quietly.
She stared at him then blinked and shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Will that thing realize we're up here?" A sudden terrifying scream sounded that raised the hair on her neck. She looked towards it. "What was that?" Her voice shook. The arm around her waist tightened and the demon was bounding through the trees like he belonged there. He finally leapt down, landing lightly on the grass. She looked up hearing the screaming and thrashing and her chest tightened.
The bull had fallen into the lake and was thrashing around. It couldn't swim. Even though the thing had nearly killed her, she still felt pity towards it. She slid her bow off of her arm and strung it.
"What are you doing?" the demon growled.
She ignored him and pulled back, aiming for the bull's forehead. "I'm sorry…" she whispered under her breath. The screaming stopped, the failing ceased and the bull slowly disappeared from view. She threw the bow back over her shoulder and turned to the man-demon who watched her silently, dark eyes staring into her own.
They stared at each other before she took a deep breath and bowed deeply. "Mr. Demon. I thank you for saving my life." She stood straight. "I hope…" she died off, looking around.
With a huff she put her hands on her hips and spoke to the empty clearing. "Rude jerk," she growled then spun on heel stomping back towards her castle.
From the trees a dark gaze watched her.
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"I am pleased to announce," Kitsune cried as she stepped into Sarah's library. "That your new sibling is a bawling baby boy! Your father is ecstatic because the baby can take over instead of you." When there were no objections, she blinked. "Sarah?" The brunette sat on her window seat, scowling darkly.
Kitsune frowned and walked over. "Sarah? You all right?"
Sarah blinked and turned to her. "Kit… what's the matter?"
Kitsune raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter with you? I've been talking to you."
"Oh. Sorry. Dazing out. What'd you say?"
"You have a baby brother." She grinned. "They've named him Tobias."
Sarah wrinkled her nose. "Poor kid. From now on, he's going to be called 'Toby.'"
The fox snorted. "I'm sure Karen will love that."
"I'm sure she will as well. That's why I'm calling him that. If I say it enough, he'll get used to it and only reply to it."
"Sarah. He's not a dog."
"Well he's a baby. That's close enough."
"You… are an idiot."
Sarah gave a fake gasp. "Kitsune! I could have you beheaded for that!"
"Deal with it."
Giggling, Sarah turned so both legs were inside the room. "So… he's a boy…"
Kitsune raised an eyebrow. "Yes…"
"That means I can teach him everything! How to crawl in the mud, catch frogs, ride horses without saddles, make a mess of dinner, annoy your parents as much as possible-"
Kitsune sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. "And to think I thought the baby might keep her out of trouble…"
"-how to fish, to write messages on the walls and blame someone else, throw tantrums-"
"I will not be a conspirator. Now stop your daydreaming and get to dinner!"
Sarah grinned at her as Kitsune stomped off before she turned, looking out the window seriously. "What I really need to do… is figure out how to keep him from being Karen's puppet…" She sighed heavily. "Poor Toby…" She ran a hand through her hair and leaned her head against the cool glass. When she opened her eyes, she thought she saw a flash of blond in the trees. A closer look revealed nothing, but just to be safe, she quickly got into her room and shut the window, pulling the curtains tight.
Once she was sure nothing could get in, she hurried after Kitsune.
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To all readers and reviewers,
Omg! I'm such a horrible person! Look at how long it's been since I last updated! Gwaaaaah! I am so sorry everyone! I blame sleep, thanksgiving, work and school. Especially work and school (scowl)
But! I'll be pleased to let you all know that if anyone would like to write my essay (7-8 pages long btw) I can get to work on completing more chapters quicker! Any takers?
Kadasa Mori
Next chapter preview: Chapter 2
"You didn't tell your friend."
Bella whinnied in surprise as she gasped and jumped, spinning to find Jareth leaning against the wall, looking in the other direction coolly. "Excuse me?" she asked, grabbing at her chest and trying to still her breathing.
He frowned at her. "You didn't tell your friend… the fox."
"Didn't tell her what?" she asked irritably.
"That you met another demon."
"I didn't think it necessary. She'd tell my father who'd give orders to hunt you down. You've saved my life… haven't killed me yet… I'm just using the same courtesy."
He growled and started towards her, eyes darkening dangerously. "So as soon as this courtesy is used up, you'll tell your father to hunt me down. Is that it Princess?"
She backed up into the horse, staring up at him, eyes wide. Her mouth moved but no sound came out. "I…I…" Bella stomped the ground angrily, trying to turn to attack him but was tied off and unable to move.