• CHAPTER: 1



    900 BR (Before the Reckoning)

    Kintrille waited for the dark elf. She didn't like meeting with him anymore than she liked rolling in filth and the latter sent a shiver up her spine, making her head shake in disgust. Something moved to her left and she whipped out her dagger sending it flying. A clink sounded as the other dark elf knocked the shiny object aside. "That could have put my eye out." Vakray picked up the dagger, stepping close to hand it back. Kintrille instinctively backed away emptying her mind for a magical attack. "Stay back canbar filth," she hissed menacingly. Vakray's face darkened at this. "You are just as much of that filth as I," he stated matter of fact. Kintrille lifted her brows. "Oh. Really? My mother hailed from the Sunken Cities, she was a sea elf." Vakray lifted his brows in the same manner. "I can't tell, but I for one I am not fully a dark elf myself. Yet I embrace the darkness." He smirked his lips and bowed mockingly.
    Kintrille noted his hazel eyes and height. Canbar didn't possess hazel eyes and he was a little too tall. Still she didn’t trust him and before he could move, Kintrille snatched the dagger from his hand and had its cold metal against his neck. Vakray lifted the potion to her open palm and dropped it there. He readied himself for the death strike that was sure to come but she merely smiled and stepped into the darkness surrounding the trees. "Not a dark elf, my foot," he muttered and made his way back to the underground caverns he called home. Kintrille found her way home right before dawn and was in her room when the sun was crested over the roofs of the homes. Her kitten Todderick lay on her pillow and she picked him up burying her face in his lavender scented fur. "I will finally and completely become human," she said then lifted the potion to her lips drinking it quickly.
    "Did you find what you were looking for?" Kintrelle awoke with a start, rolling over to look at the human woman who had adopted her at birth. "You knew I left?" Her mother nodded twisting her apron in her pale hands. "You should not have gone. You know what the dark elves are capable of." "Yes mother I know what my people are capable of but I was careful." Her mother shook her head. "Kintrelle...You are not like the rest of them. You were not bred to that evil and forgive me for being a mother but what you did was dangerous. Even if that dark elf alone was not dangerous, what do you think would have happened if you had been followed?" She stopped talking letting the last part sink in.
    "You would have been charged with treason and..." Kintrelle grabbed her mother before she could shed any tears, gathering the frail woman in her arms she hugged her fiercely.
    Ever since her father had died, her mother had not been the same. She had withdrawn into herself, losing weight and shedding hair that could have only been caused more from the stress than the cancer. Kintrelle told her mother of the night before and how long it would be before the potion took effect. Her mother smiled sadly but the girl could see the disbelief in her eyes. "So young," she sighed and let a single tear fall from her eye. Kintrelle quickly wiped it away baffled as to why her mother was sad, but it was true she was very young.
    In human years she would be considered only twenty years of age but in elven years she would only be a babe. Yet Kintrelle was content with her age though, for she had learned a lot of things in that small amount of years. It being, mostly magic and that she was apprentice to two different mages at different times had taught her a lot, but she would soon master the arts. Her teachers were amazed by her. It had taken them their whole lives to learn their magic and Kintrelle had quickly outdone even them but still she could find no spell that could make her human.
    That's where Vakray had come in. She had seen through his magical disguise the day he had entered her mother's shoe shop which made her wonder if he could see through hers. She twisted the ring on her finger, relishing in the fact that it gave her the glamour of a normal human woman. At first she thought he was staring at her because he thought her attractive but then he spoke something in elvish. At that instant she knew that he could see through her disguise and that she'd been recognized. She would have turned to flee if he had not asked her why she chose to hide among the humans. Kintrille had answered Vakray with a glare but when he told her about a potion that would transform her into a human; she dared to hope.
    The door opened jarring her from last night’s memories and she looked up expecting a merchant or traveler. "Lord Artur," she said jumping from her stool and bowing. "What brings his greatness to my humble shop?" Artur Devale Duke of Burglow dipped his head in greeting. Guards surrounded the man but she got a good look at the smile on his face and bowed again. “Why to buy some of the best made boots in the whole north of Bantoleere.” His smile widened showing pearly white teeth and despite the disguise she wore, it didn’t hide the blush in her cheeks. His blue eyes caught in the sun’s rays and twinkled. That alone made Kintrille pleasant and hardworking throughout the whole day.
    Kintrille stowed the days earnings away in the magical coin box her mother kept and waited for dusk to set in. She was anxious to see if the potion she drank earlier that morning would keep her in the human body or if the rings magic would end once the sun set. Her mother had retired to bed earlier than usual and Todderick was nowhere to be found. So she waited alone and when the sun dipped below the farthest away rooftop still she waited making sure not to look at her body.
    Then when the street lamps came on pushing back the dark of night she lifted her arms and cursed loud enough to wake her neighbors. The potion hadn’t worked. She was still canbar. If she were a human she would have cried but instead something inside her mind snapped. She would find Vakray and make him wish he’d never crossed her.
    The priestess Miruu ended her prayers to Lenore and made her way to the small cot that awaited her in one of the temples empty rooms. She had worked hard preparing the day’s festivities and now Burglow was once again a happy city. Lighting candles to chase away the shadows of the dark room, she turned around and nearly screamed when someone stepped from a dark corner. But when she soon realized what she was seeing, she did scream for no mortal man stood before her. Miruu recognized the hell demon at once and opened her mouth to whisper a prayer but her mind suddenly became fuzzy as if she had just awoken. Chains of darkness wrapped around her arms and legs tightly. “Ahhh…The beautiful Miruu. You are a powerful priestess but your tricks will not work on one as powerful as I,” and with a snap of his fingers Anglore opened a portal leading to one of the many hells he called his home.
    Miruu snapped her jade colored eyes open. Silky black hair spilled around her pale face as she lifted her head from the plush black pillows. She noticed her nakedness at once and blanched at the idea of her body being violated while she was unaware, her hands instinctively pulled the silken sheets up to her shoulders. Prayers began to pour out of her mouth to the Giver but she stopped when the huge door leading to the chamber opened. Two monstrous demons entered and then the dark lord himself walked in, a devilish grin on his handsome dark face.
    He was taller than any man she had ever seen but then again this was no man. He reminded her of a black bull but a cruel and erotic looking one. His body was typically human looking but horns protruded from his wavy hair. Red eyes glittered with a light of their own casting an eerie glow on his yellowed fangs. The demons were shackled like dogs to a chain except they were hunched over humanoids. Sharp teeth crowded their black mouths and every other second a long tongue would come out, tasting the air. Their arms were so long they dragged on the floor with claws that left scrapes in the otherwise beautiful floor.
    Miruu caught her breath but despite her best efforts she could neither turn her head nor close her eyes. The other demon’s red blotched skin caused bile to rise in the womans mouth as she noticed maggots falling from it. Yet the demon lord’s body exuded a type of charm and handsomeness that she had never before seen in another man. Despite Anglore’s almost obsidian skin tone, it held none of the blotches and holes as the other demons. He glided towards the gigantic bed and slid underneath the coverlets. “Stay with me…Lay with me,” he whispered and despite Miruu’s earlier feelings she succumbed to his words and instantly became caught up in the demon’s schemes.
    Miruu touched her belly feeling the stirrings of life within. Should she tell Anglore? The thoughts had crossed her mind all day. The huge demons’ who had become the guards of Miruu, stared at her with unrestrained hate. Or is that hunger? The thought briefly crossed her mind. Her stomach was getting bigger by the days and she knew that this was no regular pregnancy. It would have taken any woman months to get that big but she was a demons mistress. When Anglore returned from his skirmishes she wouldn’t have to tell him because he would see for himself. The demon lord no longer frightened her. Maybe it was the love she could feel growing in her heart each day for he was always kind to her and treated her as a delicate flower. He had given her the most precious jewels and the most exquisite robes. She touched the emerald colored one she now wore relishing in the fact that it hid most of her bulging belly.
    The demon lord would no doubt kill her when he found out. He already had too many usurpers who were his own children. Miruu looked at the demons’ and smiled despite the malevolence on their faces. “Will you take me to the gardens?” The demons’ moved without speaking, walking on their over grown arms to the large door. Instead of having swords their clawed hands and feet served as weapons. Miruu stepped out of the stone chamber and onto the pillared bridge. The flames of hell greeted her. She had long ago become used to the searing heat, but a talisman had still been placed upon her to absorb most of the heat.
    The gardens were the only thing that reminded Miruu of the world above, but only principle of it being called a “garden”. The plants themselves were monstrosities. Black vines whipped back and forth through the air with razor sharp thorns. Miruu who had come to the place many times before knew what to expect and sidestepped the plants easily. The Incraine demon stared at her with hate but nonetheless escorted the priestess onward. Man eating flowers snapped their jaws at the woman but again she dodged the plants easily. Her plans were to dawdle away her time here as she waited for the demon lord to return but a sharp pain started in her side and rippled its way to the middle of her belly. Miruu gasped her steps faltering and almost fell towards one of the deadly plants. The incraine grabbed her with filthy claws but the priestess pulled away struggling to keep the pangs at bay. The demon hissed and swiped long claws at the searching vines.
    Miruu knew at once she was in labor but the next pain that gripped her body sent a blood curdling scream from her lips and her body began to convulse. Blood began to pool beneath her and she prayed to the goddess who she knew could no longer hear her pleas. The incraine licked its black lips. Hot tears fell from Miruu’s eyes as she braced herself but the labor pains felt as if something sharp was ripping her insides apart. Moments later a sickening rip filled the scorching air. Miruu’s head snapped back and a soft breath escaped her lips for the last time, with green eyes staring sightlessly at the demonic presence between her knees.
    The incraine picked up the squalling babe by one healthy leg and noticed at once that it was a female. The baby looked human in every aspect except for black horns that protruded from her silky hair. She instantly stopped crying and stared at the demon before her with a smile. A portal opened a few feet away and Anglore stepped through with open hands. The incraine stepped over Miruu’s corpse and with a grunt threw the child at its father. Anglore caught the child with a smile. “Ah…and then Puurshia was born, great general of the hordes,” and with that he stepped back through the portal to the ongoing war that awaited him.
    Puurshia could still remember her first battle when she was just a newborn baby. How the blood of her enemies had tasted on her lips and burned on her skin. She would relish it again on this day and many times before. She stood a good six feet which was still much shorter than her lieutenant in command. Her skin was a tanned red and covered with a black metal glass that served as her chain mail. A single black braid on her otherwise shaved head, fell to her buttocks. Puurshia’s arms, midriff, and thighs were bare except for black chains of shadow that moved constantly of their own accord.
    Brimstone her fire mare, pawed the ground sending burning embers and burning sand over his mistress’s body, such was his vastness. Puurshia dusted the sand from her gleaming armor, her red eyes never straying from the scene before her. “The humans do not even know of our coming my liege. This war has ended before it has begun,” Gant, her lieutenant said. He was as slim as an elf but the horns that spiraled above his head spoke of a different ancestry. He waved his hand in front of him and the magical gate widened before them enough to allow an army of thousands through it.
    When Puurshia spoke her next words, every soldier in her army went as silent as death. “I do not usually trifle in human affairs but a certain human has forgotten his dealings with a Demon Lord. I come only to collect,” and with that she mounted her stead of black and trotted carelessly through the gate, her army of ten thousand following.
    The battle had been swift, scours of devils and demons trampled over the human army with no remorse. Puurshia let her great sword drink the blood of more than one general in her foes army but when it came to Lord Artur, none would touch him. He belonged to Puurshia’s father and to him alone. The town of Burglow burned with the fires of hell and she rode through them like the hell spawn she was. Their war, at least, had been lost.
    Brimstone stepped through the carnage and debris, his hooves decimating what the fires had not. Puurshia stopped before entering the gate back to her hellish home, she had neither to speak nor turn her head for Gant to dismount and investigate the golden glow before them. Puurshia could smell her brothers’ mark on the black bundle Gant held before him. “Shield it. Bring it,” she said and then the army returned to hell. Gant caught the hint of a smile cross Puurshia’s lips before she was gone.