I remember the day that I killed Akan, the day that I turned my mother’s closest friend on herself. On that same day, I banished a woman who betrayed me into the Void. I knew her as Chelle, but that wasn’t her real name. When a person is sent into the Void, they are either so distraught and contorted that they succumb to its grip, or they overcome it and become much, much greater. Chelle, or Eleanor as she was known as now, was one of the latter. I left her in the Void with no idea of where I put her, and she overcame it; whether it be on her own or with help, I don’t know, but I wasn’t ready for her return.

In front of me, Elyse sat curled against the wall in a silent, weeping mess. Her clothes were torn, her hair hadn’t been washed for days, and her right wing was ripped. Her face was pale and her hair, once pink, was now dull. “I need to get you out of here,” I told her. I embraced her and pulled her into my shadow so that she wouldn’t have to face her citizens in this state; she was not, by any means, presentable.

When I came back to Alexiandeir, I was half expecting to be hated or accused of harming their Empress, but I received a completely different reaction. In the street outside of the castle, I was met by the High Emperor himself, Elyse’s father.

“I got your letter,” he told me. I gave him a nod and he led me up into her chambers, where I gently retrieved her from the shadows. She changed her clothes and bathed herself, but insisted that I or her father always be in sight. I know she was going to have some trauma attached to this since I don’t think she’s ever actually been in danger before, but she was broken. She wasn’t smiling, she wasn’t trying to make conversation, and she wasn’t trying to get me to do anything with her. She was like how I was way back in the Panther; it tortured me to see. After her bath, she lied in bed on her stomach and was being completely silent. The royal doctor checked her over, but didn’t seem too promising. From his analysis, she was slowly fading, mentally and physically. In an attempt to make her happier, I pulled Nirgir out of my shadow to cuddle with her. She lied her head down on its tail, but it didn’t do much else for her.

“What in the gods’ names is that?” her father asked me.

I was going to respond, but Elyse spoke up in a raspy voice, “The Void…”

“What? You brought a monster-“

“Emily, the Void,” she said again. She was looking right at me. “It was from the Void, wasn’t it?”

She was talking about Eleanor, the woman who stole something from her. I nodded. “It’s my fault, I put her there in the first place.”

“You let a creature from the Void out to try and kill my daughter??” He was getting a bit heated.

“I didn’t want this to happen. I have no clue how that… woman, not creature, became like that. I’ve done this hundreds of times before… this has never happened outside of my control.” I guess it was about time they learned the truth.

“How? How do you know, Everlock?” He, along with Elyse, stared at me, waiting for the answer.

“I know… because I’m from the Void. Originally. The Voidwalker, the stalker of the night… he’s my father.” I didn’t want too many people to know, but they needed to know that I could probably reverse what Eleanor has done.

The High Emperor let it sink in for a few minutes, thinking it over. My thumping heart was all I heard in the room, save for Nirgir’s occasional half purr, half growls.

“I can stop her and heal your daughter. I may need some help, though.”

He walked around for a bit longer. The High Empress came in to speak to him, watched Elyse for a while, then left again. When the door closed, the High Emperor looked to me. “I suppose we don’t have much of a choice. We’re looking at a manhunt for a Void creature orchestrated by a Void creature, all in the living world. This is going to be a show for the heavens above; expect intervention.”

“Just keep your gods out of my way,” I said. I went over to the bed and kneeled next to Elyse. “Listen, I may have been a bit standoffish in the past, but I assure you that I’m going to find her. I’m going to need a part of you, though.”

“Part…?” Her voice was quiet and tired.

“I don’t know much about Soulamancy, but I’ve read enough to know that your body will get stronger when you’re closer to what she stole from you, so I need something, anything. Like…” I stopped. This was taking too long, so I stood and formed a blade over my left index finger. I grabbed a lock of her hair, pulled it up, then cut it from her head. I turned away, then went to her desk where I spun the hair with a coil of silver wire. I infused the two together to keep the hair in place and connected the strip around my wrist like a band. It held steady, so I was prepared for the journey.

“Emily,” Elyse said from her bed. I went over and stood above her, watching her dulled eyes tear up. “Thank you.”

I didn’t say anything back; I wasn’t ready to tell her that I might not make it back. I’d never faced another sentient Void creature before, so I wasn’t sure how prepared I really was. After I left, her father gave me his best wishes. He told me that he would call for a safe journey from the heavens, but I wasn’t about to thank him. The gods despise my gift, so I wasn’t expecting assistance from them. What I knew for certain was that this would be the hunt of a lifetime. 

Lucelle, the Demon Scourge

“Please, oh Great One, show me mercy.” The poor, crumpled sap kneeled at my feet.

“When you reach the Undergods, beg them for mercy.” I slashed at them, then watched her grab at her flayed throat. She began to choke on her own blood, then dropped to the ground in a bloody mess. “Next.”

The boy was dropped at my feet. He was bruised and cut up, cringing at each crime he was charged with. “Thievery, slander against the Demon God, lies against the Acculted, and assault of a Demon Prince.”

I glared down at the child, no older than eighteen years old. “Plead for your life.”

“Great One,” he started. “Everything I do, I do for my family. My boy and girl, my wife… I never meant to come here, I am just a hunter. I wouldn’t have taken the fruits if I knew they belonged to someone else.”

I turned to the crowd of demons. They watched as I grabbed the boy by the neck and lifted him onto his feet. “This is a trespasser.” The crowd yelled angrily, showing hatred towards the prisoner. “This is an invader. This is an enemy!”

The boy pled, crying out for help from his gods. “Oh please, I never meant to hurt anyone! You have to believe me!” His cries were drowned out by the chanting crowd. Their decision was made.

“This is vengeance!” I yelled as my crushed his neck with my oversized hand. I dropped him to his knees and watched him fall to the ground after a few moments. The crowd cheered me on, even after I walked off the stage of wood. I left to my cavern and went to the far wall. Against it, I clawed three more strikes into it. I backed up, looking at the full amount of strikes: forty-five. Forty-five lives taken by my hands. I wasn’t proud of this position, but it is what I had.

I went to the pile of animal skins I called my bed and grabbed the bag next to it. Inside was a single book with a worn cover and ripping pages. I opened it to read over my own words. The words were tales of justice, valor, and fighting for a cause, not for… a god, if even that. They were of allies, close friends, and good times. They were also of anger, betrayals, and death. It has been too long since that fateful day when my life was taken from me. Well, not really.

I am Lucelle, the ‘Demon Scourge.’ Such a title is not truly fit for me, but it is what I was given. I wasn’t a scourge, but an executioner. I was a demon, though. I lost my identity when I left the cities and came here, where I was a xenophobic monster that preyed on the unwary. My claws were my weapons and my words were nothing but death sentences. It was about time I made something of myself, but I didn’t see any opportunity. No one appreciated demons anymore; times have changed.

“Scourge, another crossed,” a demon with huge bottom fangs said into my cave room.

“Leave,” I replied. They left me and I prepared myself for another hunt. I took a few more minutes to look over the words I’d read hundreds of times before and then put the bag back. I got up, took a deep breath, then put on an angry expression while I stepped out into the city of demons. There was no sun and no government to tell us what to do, but we still had a system; an order. The greatest, strongest demon was the leader, and they led the rest to show any outsiders that we were here and we were capable of defending ourselves.

I enjoyed going out into the sunlight, no matter how hot it made me. My skin was completely black, like most demons, so it soaked up all of the sun’s rays and began to burn if I stayed out too long. I spread my wings and set out low over the trees of the forest. The guards at the entrance of the gate gave me a general direction to find the intruder, so I stayed over the trees until I passed the outer wall of blood- a boundary all demons could sense, but not many other species could see. It was a joke that we even considered this to be hostile territory for anyone else.

I dropped below the canopy and glided over the ground while using my wings to elongate my strides. I was searching for the intruder with high speed, and it didn’t take long before I caught an unfamiliar scent. I followed it until it was so strong, I could swear I was right in front of the creature or person, whatever it was. I jumped into the closest tree and became silent, listening for anything out of the ordinary. I caught sight of a dark spot in the sunlight and tracked it. Hidden, I thought to myself. As I stalked the shadow, I was suddenly hit by a bolt of magic and dropped to the ground.

From my landing point, I looked up at where I thought the shadow was, but I whipped my head to the side as I heard a woman’s eerie voice speak, “Over here, dark one. Lost, are you?” She was pestering me, so I bared my fangs as I got up. “Oh, how rowdy.” She had hair that was red, blue, and purple all at once, but very dark-colored. Her skin was fully black and her eyes were pure white, so I ruled out her being a demon. She had two normal arms, then two extra ones coming out of her side, both shifting in between simple spikes and formed hands.

“What are you?” I asked with disgust in my voice. I already made my decision, but I thought I’d humor her.

“I am free, baby. Look at me, do I not emit power and beauty all at once? I am sure you do not fully understand it, demon.”

I had had enough of this woman, so I lunged to strike at her. Before I reached, I was sent backwards, flying through the air with my wings paralyzed. I crashed back into the ground and rolled until I got back up. With sheer will, I pushed back to try and strike at her again, making sure to have swift, random movements to throw off her magic use. I nearly got to her, but she disappeared and I felt excruciating pain shoot through my back. I fell to the ground and heard her walk up from behind. I heard two *thud* sounds as I looked over, seeing my severed, bloody wings in the dirt.

“Aw… poor baby has been grounded,” she cooed at me.

“What have you done to me?” I growled, staring at the ground. I felt my neck tighten and it was pulled backwards as my vision was pulled straight up.

“Look at me when you speak, pet!” she yelled at me.

I snarled and clawed, slicing her left arm. She dropped the bag she was clutching out of pain and out came a glowing object that I got a quick glimpse of. It wasn’t any normal amulet, it was one of legends, or at least a fake one, but the way it glowed... I tried to get a better look, but my head was shoved against the ground as she began to scream at me. I tried to grab the amulet, but my wrists became restrained to my back. Her magic was powerful, but a demon’s will is even more so.

Through the forces keeping me still, I slowly but surely pulled my hands back to the ground and pushed myself up. With a final push, I spun and clawed at her face, sending her to her rear. Her grip loosened, so I took the amulet and closely inspected it. “The Empress’!” I exclaimed.

“Hand over the amulet, demon!” Another voice called from a few yards away. I looked, then my eyes widened in surprise. I never thought the day would come that I would see that same fragile woman. She certainly has changed in so long, but she still held the same determination in her eyes. While staring, I forgot there was even another person here.

“My trophy!” The odd-haired woman stole the amulet from my hand and began to flee, popping into a mist of shadows while she disappeared into the trees.

“Damnit!” Emily yelled as she passed me. She didn’t take a second look before she disappeared in the same direction. She didn’t recognize me at all, did she? We used to be the best of friends, she and I. This was exactly the kind of escape I was looking for, just how I wished it would happen. Without a second thought about it, I bolted in the direction the other two went, determined to reunite myself with my long-separated friend, Emily Everlock.