Chapter 1: Death is only the beginning.
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The full moon rose above the dark meadow that stood at the borders of the forest. The night was exceptionally quiet, as if it were in mourning for a great tragedy. However, the only sounds that could be heard were that of light footsteps wading through the grass and dirt.
The soft noise had caught the attention of a demon that was out searching for a long-awaited meal. He had gone hungry for the past few days, unable to catch a decent meal due to being beaten to his ideal meal of villagers by stronger demons. But, it seemed his luck was starting to change. He had recently come across a sacred jewel shard, a jewel that can increase one’s strength and power. He embedded it into his forehead, which immediately surged a wave of strength throughout his body.
This new power made him feel invincible and quite cocky. He watched this stranger walk a few steps more across the field before jumping out at his intended meal. He landed a few feet in front of the traveler, stopping him from continuing.
When he finally got a better look at the person before him, he was surprised to find that it was not a human, but a female demon . . . A fact that was strange, considering she had not discovered him sooner.
From what he could tell by her appearance she was some sort of fighter, dressed in a worn, tattered outfit; the dark navy blue clothes were short at the sleeves and stopped about a foot above her knee, tied with a sash that hung on the right side of her hip. She wore bandages on her wrists and ankles, not from wounds but probably as an aid to ease the pressure that she put on them in battle. Her hair was dark brown, almost black, and was tied into a ponytail, still long enough to reach the lowest part of her back. Her bangs swept to the right side of her face, and two pieces of hair hung down in front of her pointed ears, draping over her shoulders. She wore a light cloth mask that covered the bottom half of her face, leaving only her eyes to be seen; eyes the color of Amethyst that seemed to glisten even in the darkness. He wondered why she was alone in the middle of the night. But it did not matter; she appeared weak, and would certainly be no challenge to destroy. Human or demon, it made no difference—he was ready for a meal.
Finally, the girl lifted her head, not looking at the demon, and spoke to him in a voice that seemed exhausted and sad. “Excuse me, but you’re in my way.”
The demon smirked at her comment and replied, “That’s alright, because you’re not going anywhere.”
The girl then fixed her eyes on the demon’s face. “What a foolish two-horned demon,” she thought. It was then she noticed the small fragment of jewel shard embedded in his forehead.
“Hmm…” she replied, “You think that just because you are in possession of a jewel shard it makes you strong and powerful? Well, you’re wasting you’re time.”
The demon became enraged at her words. “How dare this weak girl mock me? That’s it! It’s dinner time.” Without another thought, he blindingly lashed out toward her. “You’ll see!” he screamed. “This will be worth the while.”
The demon came to a sudden stop as the girl seemed to vanish before his eyes. “Where are you?!” he yelled, but no sooner had he spoken that he heard the girl’s voice from behind him.
“I told you, you were wasting your time.” The girl did not vanish but in fact had leapt over the demon to a point where he could not see her and landed behind him. To discover that this weak-looking girl could do this sent a chill up his spine. He whirled around to see the girl had extended out her left arm, and he watched in horror as her fingernails grew into dagger-like claws—claws that seemed they could shred bone into fine piles of dust. Before he could move, the girl sliced her hand through the air and toward his body. There was a loud crack that sounded as if a twig was being stepped on.
The girl retracted her claws and looked down at the demon that now lay on the ground, his upper body separated from his waist. He was a weak demon, even while in possession of a jewel shard. His flesh began to sink into itself until nothing remained but bone and blood that had begun to soak into the dirt. The jewel shard, having nothing to hold onto, slid from the demon’s skull and into the dirt. Walking over to where it fell, the girl picked up the fallen shard. She was unsure of what to do with it. She herself had no real desire for something that only seemed to bring chaos to those around it. She turned to the demon’s corpse one last time. “Someone like you shouldn’t be in possession of this anyway.” Her fingers tucked the jewel into her clothing for the time being.
