Marina 

Chapter One:  The Demon 

What do you do when all your life you had to learn to run? 

There’s a point where you start to get tired. 

You try to catch your breath and it feels like you're slowly dying because maybe you are. 

But then the strangest thing happens.

You don’t feel your legs anymore and your mind becomes clearer, soon enough you become used to the feeling. It would feel weird if you stopped running so you end up running even faster because what else can you do? 

I snap back into reality and look over to my best friend Astro. He looks back at me with a tired but steady smile. We have to act fast or this demon will catch up to us and win. 

I draw my sword from my hip and Astro knows the plan just from the expression on my face.

 We turn the opposite way and bolt. I slash their arm with my sword and Astro knocks them to the ground. As soon as he gets them down, I anchor my knee to their chest and place my blade right underneath their chin. 

I look straight at the face of a person who was on the side of a corrupt leader whose selfishness never stopped growing. To take over my people's land and to take our magic for their selfish use. My face wasn’t well at hiding the disgust that had been boiling inside me. “Tell me everything you know before I have to kill you.”  

The demon stopped for a bit and then let out a laugh, a big cold-hearted laugh. “You think I'd tell you anything? You don't scare me, you and your little pet are nothing but past-time for me.” 

I look back at Astro who has been visibly upset by the pet remark. “We are more than a past-time if we were able to knock you down so easily,” I say. 

The demon lets out an annoyed growl. “Do you think I can tell you anything? If I do then my commander will just torture me to death herself. You are not worth my pain.” For some reason, those words struck me. “You don't have to live like this, you could join us.” 

The demon pushed me off them. There was a second where I could see that my words had affected them. And there we were standing face to face just staring at each other. It might have been seconds but it felt like an eternity. The demon reached over his shoulder and just like he appeared he was gone leaving behind a green smoke. 

“These missions have been harder ever since these demons laid their hands on these teleportation crystal things,” Astro says behind me. “I know they're a pain in the butt!” I let out a desperate scream. “Just to think that I was so close to helping him!” 

“You can’t help all of them, Mari, they need to want to be helped,” Astro said as he placed his hand on my shoulder. I give him a warm smile. “It’s just that I know demons aren’t all bad, they have the power to be good, it's not all about where you come from, it's about who you are as a person” I sighed. “They are fighting us to survive. I guarantee you that if given the choice, they wouldn't even want to fight in this stupid war!” 

Astro looks at me with sympathetic eyes. “Hey let’s get your mind off things! How about cake? I heard the shop might have a new cake flavor!” 

I let out a much-needed laugh. “Cake sounds amazing actually” “Yeah! But first, we need to get you a new sword.” “What?” I said, startled. I look down to realize my sword has bent during the fight. The swords they usually give to soldiers my age are extremely flimsy. You’d think that maybe we would save money by just making better swords rather than making hundreds of them. 

“I don’t remember my sword bending,” I say. “Huh, must have happened when you weren’t looking or something” 

“I am always looking, you know that.” “Maybe you aren’t as sharp-minded as you thought!” Astro puts on a giant cheeky smile. I scoff dramatically.  “Okay wow, you're paying.” 

“What! That’s not fair!” “Oh it is, you insult me and now you buy me cake it’s a completely understandable trade.” “Okay fine whatever” he scoffs 

As we are walking to the Young Knight Center, which is called Y.K.C. by most, I can't help but notice a strange aura surrounding Astro. I look over to see his gloomy face and immediately remember why. We never mentioned the pet comment, it was always a sore topic for Astro. 

Animal spirits like him are always treated as less than Thesians. He never wants to use his wolf side in combat because then they'd know. Very few of our colleagues know that he is an Animal spirit but demons can sense it. 

I know how he feels. It's one of the many reasons why we are even friends. He knows I’m part human and must completely change myself around normal Thesians. My eyes are a dark brown color as opposed to the usual green, purple, or red. Every morning I have to put on my contacts to hide my real eye color. Humans are more emotional than Thesians, they cry, laugh, and feel love for others (or so I was told) but Thesians are more serious and don't feel these things. Eventually, after hiding a huge part of yourself you feel ashamed, alone, and especially scared because you don’t want people to know the real you. 

I look over at Astro who is still looking gloomy. “You know that I'll always have your back right?” I say. “Of course and you know that I'll always have yours. We have each other.” We give each other a small smile and keep walking but now the air feels lighter.  It is nice to know that in this whole world, I have someone that I can be myself with. I care so much for Astro and I know he cares for me, so I plan to keep him with me for as long as possible.