1 Chapter 1: The Night

I remembered everything: the crisp autumn leaves that traversed the grey sky, and the incandescence of the sun's desperate attempt to force through the clouds — a battle of the gods hidden from mortal eyes. I remember the majesty of a torrent of rain cascading onto the emerald fields, the waves of the onyx lake capping white and crashing against the jutting rocks, thundering as if a herd of stallions was arising from the depths. The hills around me were coated in a rich fog.

I had been waiting for you for a long time. The cold had begun to seep into my bones, the ache indistinguishable from the one of my soul calling to you. Icy drops cut my skin, frigid water streamed into my eyes, which I wiped away with the strings of hair that clung to my cheeks and my back, the white of my dress rendered it transparent, and my numb fingers failed at the clasps of my shawl.

The sun set, darkness crept across the bluffs, the fog only grew more dense. The eerie crackle of disturbed leaves distracted me from the glowing yellow eyes along the forest edge. Finally, my ears had perked up as I heard the approach of footsteps, but it appeared you were not alone.

"Kali?" Sam called.

"You came," I had sighed, and smiled tilting my head toward the voice. The guttural chuckles of your companions made me uneasy, and I crossed my arms across my chest, smile faded, "What is going on?" Knife ears, I had heard in whispers, I shook my hair out in front of my face.

A hand gripped my chin and forced my gaze upward, I stared into piercing indigo eyes I could scarcely recognize as yours. Behind me, my hair yanked, and my hands were bound with a chord. I struggled until I could feel blood trickling down my wrists — until hunks of my raven hair floated to the ground

Freak, outlander, witch. The voices had mocked, and the fury I had long suppressed flowed through my veins.

"Look at 'er eyes," a scratchy voice proclaimed, "that's where she's hidden the demon, son,". The torch the older man held scorched her face with its heat, the embers flickered from it sparking my skin, my cheeks began to blister, but he did not retreat.

"Sam!" I cried, and clutched to vain hope. All hope fled that day as I saw your dead eyes behind your father's men. Blood stains bloomed on the fabric of my gown, it trickled down, feeding into the emerald of the Earth. As the hands of the nameless men forced me to the ground, as they tore at the remnants of my gown, a solitary tear traveled along my cheek. A howl sounded in the distance.

I stared up at the glow of the pale moon, disconnected from my body.

We of the Succubi show no weakness

When the crowd of men stepped away at last, I lie there. A clump shivering in a pool of my own crimson blood — the only warmth provided in this darkness. I had tried to count the stars in the night sky, to not be blinded by the moonlight that taunted us from the heavens with its promise of light, but it was only a reflection. The dark face of the Sam's father crowded my vision, and I saw the sadistic pleasure lighting his eyes, so similar to his son's. The torch had burned down to a plank of wood with a burning ember at it's tip. As he lowered the plank toward my eyes, I screamed

We of the Succubi show no weakness I had never imagined that those eyes would be the last bit of light I saw, before my soul gave in to the darkness.

The endless opaque greeted me. My sight was gone, I remained in a world of shadows. Swirls of dust from the packed earth floor glowed in the sliver of moonlight from an opening in the distant cavern ceiling. My knees folded painfully beneath me, my fingers grazed the ground and felt the sticky wet of blood surrounding my body. I began patting at the ground wildly, grasping at clumps of dirt. Ignoring my pain, I scrambled about desperate.

Where is it?

My breaths came in rapid heaves, I flailed wildly in the darkness. I felt the claustrophobic edges of the circular cavern walls surrounding me. There was no doorway. The only escape was through that hole in the ceiling. I stood on shaky legs and traipsed forwards, to trip and land in the dirt. Metal clanged.

There!

I scrambled over the item I fell on, and my fingers trailed the seductive Fae steel, lovingly caressed the razor edges. I gripped the hilt of my sword, clutching the only familiarity in this wasteland for dear life. I paused.

Drums banged incessantly to a dark rhythm outside. Voices rose among the gasping cries of the wind. Chants echoed and shook the cavern walls. I could hear the clang of metal drift through the opening. The sharpening of an Axe.

Blood...death...sacrifice...demon. The worlds assailed my ears, a banshee's cry in the night, I sunk to my knees my hands over my pointed ears. My sword fell in the dirt. My body shook, blood began to drip from my ears. I screamed up at the full moon.

The tattered remnants of my dress shredded completely as colossal black wings sprung from my spine. Gold feathers shone, mixed with the black, the wings hugged my body like a warm caress. A memory I knew well. My eyes stung, all I could make out were shadows and a sliver of light. The chanting grew louder, footsteps approached my cell.

I crouched in the Earth and gripped my sword once again in my right hand. Spreading my wings to test my range, I stared up at the hole in the ceiling.

It's time to show them what they are all afraid of.

Kicking up, I launched myself into the night sky. Their screams could be heard through time.