PROLOGUE

I could see the look in his eyes. The look that told me “Do it again.” The look that told me, “I didn’t say we were done.” That stupid look that shouted at me to fight until I couldn’t move at all. I’m already down on the ground here, why can’t he just let me be. He could wipe them all out in an instant if he wanted to.

“Apura.”

I could hear the annoyance in his voice, but what he doesn’t realize is that I’m also annoyed. I don’t wanna do this. 

“Apura.”

I heard you the first time, just shut up already. 

I wish I could say that. 

I groan, “Just let me die. Please.” I look away from him and turn to one of the goblin corpses next to me. I then grab it and drag it over me like a blanket and hide. It was nice when it was one goblin, even two. Three was manageable. Then four was just funny. But to have a whole country of them come out to take us down? No, to take me down?! It’s been days now. I want sleep. The man who’s making me do all this, is my father. The demon lord. A man who wants to live “the easy life” by making me his sole successor and take over while he can sit back and watch. Maybe I want to live “the easy life”?! 

I feel the corpse getting heavier—

“Ack! What is it doing?!”

As I try to get up I get pushed back down. I look to my dad to see that he’s using the body as a stepping stool.

“Eh, I guess you’re not ready yet.” He says followed with a slight chuckle

I wish he would be disappointed in me. But, the way he spoke was filled with enthusiasm. As if to say, “this is going to be a learning experience.” He kicks the goblin off of me and bends down. Within the palm of his hand, a white orb. He throws it onto me. I could feel myself revitalizing. My weariness and injuries were gone within seconds. I get up to see that the goblins are ready to finish us off. I misspoke. They were getting ready to attempt to finish us off. My father still bent down looks to them and says to me,

“It doesn’t matter how many there are. Once you master endurance and increase your stamina. You’re ready for anything.”

He gets up and calls out to them, he speaks in their language, and since we’ve been fighting them for days now. I’ve kind of picked up on it too so I can make assumptions to what he’s saying to them with the words I can understand…

“I’m going to give you all a chance. I haven’t invaded before, but consider this a takeover. Join me and your lives will be spared. My daughter was not up to task to do it herself this time.”

They laugh. One of them steps out from the crowd. Bigger than the rest. So big that it could be confused with an ogre. 

“Biknu taka”

The goblin’s words just sound like gibberish to me. My father smiles. 

“Options?”

My father looks at me, “They want other options before killing us.”

“Why’re you looking at me then?!”

“Well to be honest, I didn’t have a plan.”

“Idiot…” 

He looks back at the goblin and in our language he says, “The underworld belongs to me, and soon the world above. You can be a part of that conquest. Become allies with other monsters like yourselves that are under my control.”

The goblin shouts, “Ruka dra dassa.”

Complete. Gibberish. 

“He said ‘fat chance human’.”

“I didn’t ask for a play by play!”

“‘Human’, is not the right word for what I am.” 

He raises his right arm towards the sky.

A burst of flames appears over the palm of his hand. The flames grow bigger, almost to the size of a boulder. As they grow they shine brightly, so bright it’s  almost comparable to a star. It’s getting hotter. I look away from him to avoid going blind and watch as the remaining goblins stare frozen in fear. I could tell that their instincts to survive were taken from them the moment my father decided to fight. 

Fight… No, not fight. Taunt. I can imagine exactly what’s going through his mind right now. I am so cool.

“I am so cool… Heh.”

The— He— Don’t say it outloud dad! So embarrassing… 

The goblins begin to kneel down. They knew this wasn’t a battle they could win. The big goblin speaks,

“Why?”

“I wanted my daughter to learn. Even if—”

“Why need us?” The goblin says in our language.

“I want an easy life.” 

The goblin didn’t understand at all, but I did. I knew all too well that an “easy life” meant I would be carrying him and doing all the work he doesn’t like doing. And the more he conquers the less things he has to worry about, which also means… I’ll… Be… Training more… Which means there will be no end to this! Which means, if I don’t leave now, he’ll just keep pushing and pushing! 

“No thanks!” Oops! I said that outloud.

I don’t think he heard me. 

“I guess, you’ll live to see another day. But…” He seems unsure of himself.

Because honestly, he can’t control his power, and will have to discharge his attack somehow. Which is my perfect chance to escape.

The “star” begins to get brighter and brighter. So bright that I could tell he was starting to squint. He tosses it up in the air and lights up the skies of the underworld. A bright light that causes him to close his eyes and for me to use this chance to run. 

My father is the demon lord of the underworld.

And I am Apura. The soon to be priestess of the human world above.