The Demon's Pa

My thoughts were fuzzy when I woke up that morning and it felt like I had a hangover of some sort.

I could clearly remember every single detail of what happened the previous day, and yet, I couldn’t help but feel like there was some huge part of my memory that was missing.

I tried to shake off the feeling as I stood in the shower trying to figure out what my next move was going to be.

No one had sent word yet that they had found the place on earth with the most spiritual energy and it was starting to worry me. What if we couldn’t find it before our time was up? What if the time came and we weren’t there to stop the demons from coming into this world? Not only all the vampires, but all the humans would be killed as well. I was not going to let that happen.

When I was dressed in the last pair of clean pants I had brought with me- thinking I should probably wash the rest when I had time or I would be forced to wear the curtains or something- I exited my room to find Zaiden standing outside, waiting for me.

He looked up when I shut the door behind me and a smile spread across his face, “Good morning milady.”

I gave him a suspicious look but returned his smile, “Hey, what’s up?”

His smile turned into a frown, “What do you mean?”

“I’m just wondering why you’re here so early in the afternoon, waiting for me.” I told him as I walked across the hall towards him.

“I wasn’t waiting for you.” He said and I raised a sceptical eyebrow. Upon seeing my reaction he quickly continued, “I mean I was waiting, but not really.”

“Hmm.” I said thoughtfully, “What do you mean?”

“I was just…” He sighed, “Please don’t be mad, but I was just… standing guard.”

My eyes widened, “You were out here all day?”

“No…” He said quickly but then admitted the truth, “Sort of yeah…”

I sighed heavily, “There’s nothing to worry about, I’m safe here. Alexander can’t escape and there are plenty of other vampires to alert us if any other dangers come our way.”

“I’m just being cautious.”

“Thanks for looking out for me but you really don’t have to.”

Zaiden looked at me like I’d just told him Santa wasn’t real, “It’s what I do, Ash. So just let me protect you.”

I groaned loudly. “Fine.” I said reluctantly and I stretched out the word.

“Thank you,” he said happily as he turned to walk away. “Now, come on, we have work to do.”

I followed him, “We do? What are we doing?”

“Do you remember the last time we faced the demons?”

I nodded.

“Do you remember how much you sucked at fighting?”

I nodded.

“Do you remember what I said I would do?”

I nodded again.

Zaiden looked at me expectantly, “Well?”

“Oh… I guess… you said you would teach me how to fight?”

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!” He exclaimed excitedly with a bright grin.

I couldn’t help but smile a little, “So you’re going to teach me how to fight?”

“Yes, yes I am. And I’m not going to go easy on you just because you’re a girl.”

“I didn’t expect you to.” I said, “I need to learn how to fight, not prance around being praised for not tripping over air –which, I have to say, is very likely to happen.” I paused, “The part where I trip over air and face plant into the floor I mean.”

“Don’t worry, milady, I will catch you before you fall-“

“But that’s exactly what you shouldn’t-“

“And get you in a choke hold.” He added with a wicked grin.

“Oh. Well. I suppose that’ll work.” I admitted with a little shrug.

I followed Zaiden as he led me outside and suddenly I saw nothing but the late afternoon sun sinking back into the earth. I shielded my eyes from the light. “Damn sun, it hurts my eyes.”

Zaiden chuckled, “It’s because you were sleeping so much.”

I muttered profanities under my breath. “So what are you going to teach me?” I questioned once we were a ways from the house. “Some awesome insta demon killer move?”

“I was thinking we’d start with a punch.” He said slowly as if he was speaking to a two year old.

My face fell, “Oh… but I can already do that… can’t I?”

“Ehh…”

I gave him an unimpressed look, “So that’s a ‘no’ then, I assume.”

“Yeah no, sorry Ash, but you can’t throw a decent punch to save your life.” Zaiden said as he gave me a light pat on the head. “Don’t worry though, we’ll have you killing demons and ripping heads off in no time.”

“Whoopee.” I said unenthusiastically, “Sounds absolutely wonderful.”

It took me about two minutes to realise that Zaiden had not been kidding at all when he’d said that I can’t throw a punch to save my life.

I was the royal and I was stronger than Zaiden, but he brushed off the blows I threw his way like he was waving away a pesky little mosquito.

My first objective in our training session was actually landing a blow on Zaiden who I was beginning to suspect had somewhere throughout his life been a very flexible acrobat. It would explain a lot about him and he was moving like some snake, strong yet not stiff at all.

Zaiden ducked under my arm as it swung his way with a laugh, “Come on Ash, you’re faster than that. I know you are, I’ve seen it, so don’t hold back.”

I let out a little huff of air in frustration “I’m not holding back! You’re just dancing around like some monkey.” I braced my hands on my knees and looked up at him. “It’s impossible to hit you.”

Zaiden’s eyes shone brilliantly with amusement, “Oh?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Explain to me then how exactly I ended up flying through your apartment wall yesterday.”

I sighed heavily, “That was Alexander, I’m not as fast or as strong as Alexander.”

“And yet,” he continued with a voice as sweet as honey, “You ended up holding him down. How do you explain that then?”

“Well I-” I jumped right into my sentence but stopped to frown and gave Zaiden a confused look, “I guess, he was distracted?”

“Indeed he was.” He said happily.

I snorted. “You say that like you think the demons on the battlefield are actually going to be distracted by something.”

“Well, alright then. Just think about what I said… and stop flailing around like some nestling trying to fly for the first time.”

I snarled at the insult, “I wasn’t flailing.”

“Oh trust me, you were. Keep your elbows tucked in at your sides, you don’t need your arms to keep balance anymore like when you were human, you’re stronger than that.” He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked at me intently, “Focus, Ash. You’re not some fragile unbalanced human, you’re more like a light concrete slab.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” I exclaimed as I threw my hands into the air.

Zaiden smiled at me softly and ran him hands down my arms to push them to my sides again. He took hold of both my wrists, “All I’m saying is that you’re strong, you don’t have to be afraid that you’re going to fall over or something, let go of the ground and be light on your feet.”

I sighed and looked down, “Alright, I’ll try.”

“Good girl.” He praised as he let go of me and moved away a little. “Again.” He ordered.

I raised my hands defensively and looked at him intently.

“Remember,” he said before I could fling myself at him in hope of doing some damage, “a few well-placed weak blows are better than a strong one that misses.”

I made a thoughtful sound in the back of my throat, “Hm.”

He raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“I’m just thinking that you’re quite smart and poetic when you get to give advice.”

That made Zaiden grin, “Keep in mind that in a very, very old man, young grasshopper. Age gives wisdom whether you want it or not.”

I laughed, “And the poet continues!”

“Oh whatever.” He relented with a chuckle. “Now, milady, I ask you to beat the crap out of me.”

In the end I was not able to fulfil Zaiden’s request. He was just too fast and I kept, as he put it, flapping my arms like a rooster.

How absolutely wonderful.

I did however manage to land a few light weight blows to his stomach and his face and boy, were those moments something to behold. He didn’t even flinch at my poor excuses for attacks but I celebrated every time I hit him for a few minutes before I composed myself enough to continue with our training session. He had yet to get out of defence and into offense so I hadn’t really had much competition as of yet, but it felt like I could take down the world, even if I couldn’t even beat my first noble.

Within the next week our training sessions became somewhat of an everyday thing. Zaiden was there, waiting for me outside my room, every afternoon when I woke up and we trained for a few hours before heading inside and spending some awkward time with the other royals and their Promise angels.

On the third day of my training Zaiden had fought back for the first time and hit me in the stomach so hard I’d been sent flying through the air and landed a couple of meters away from him.

He hasn’t gone easy on me since.

I was getting better, even Zaiden had to admit that from time to time so I wasn’t getting too depressed about the fact that even after a week I was still unable to ‘beat the crap’ out of him.

My family had moved into Viktor’s home with more than a little persuasion from my side and it made me feel better to know that they were surrounded by vampires who had strict orders not to touch them. Anyone who touched them would not live to see another sunset, I would make sure of that. Having them in a royal’s home wasn’t ideal, but it was better than having out there where they were unprotected and possible demon chow.

Tabitha was still the same as the first day she’d nearly hit me over the head with a baseball bat and in our time we spent together –with Lucy included of course- it was clear she was one of a kind. She didn’t really like Lucy all that much –as she had been saying that not all of Lucy’s marbles were quite there- and I had a feeling she was sceptical about me as well.

I sometimes had to agree with what she said about Lucy, Lucy could be a little… slow on the uptake, but at least she had a good heart. It was strange how much all the Promise angels that had been found so far differed from one another.

Tabitha had confidence, was strong willed and blunt. Lucy was gentle, innocent and a little ignorant. Cherise was strong, kind and determined. Rain was quiet, smart and thoughtful. I was… nothing special really, maybe the hand that kept Tabitha from strangling Lucy, but that was about it.

I was just busy trying to make peace between the two human females during our daily awkward family time when a surprise visitor walked into the room with an escort.

I gave Tabitha a lingering look before I looked at the vampire noble, “Brittany?”

She smiled when she saw me and walked closer, “Ash! It’s great to see you again.”

We hugged and I smiled, “It’s great to see you too but, what are you doing here?” I was surprised to see Brittany to say the least, she was my seventh noble and I could remember telling her along with the other nobles to make sure the humans were safe while I was away and to stay in Africa, so what could she possible be doing here that allowed her to ignore my direct order?

“Faith sent me with word of how our human recruitment is going.” She replied happily and some relief came over me. There was a reason that she was here, she had not completely ignored my order.

My eyes widened, “Oh? And how is the human recruitment going?”

“Well, things have been a little hard since we didn’t have out royal with us to give the final say in things but under the circumstances I’d say things have been going rather well.”

“Alright, come on, let’s sit down and you can tell us all about it. Luckily we’re all here.”

When I saw sitting between Lucy and Tabitha again and Viktor and Norabo were watching the three of us grinning- almost like they knew I was keeping the peace between the other two and found it immensely amusing- Brittany began telling the story. “I’d been coming down from Timbuktu, where I’d been looking after the humans to defend them from the demons, when I ran into Faith. She was in the lower western regions with a few humans and they were discussing forming an alliance with the locals there. Long story short, she told me that she’d been travelling all over Africa with the humans in hope of finding some that can help us defeat the demons.” She paused and gave me a meaningful look, “I’m grateful for you milady, you were the one who made this alliance possible. I’m glad Alex found you before he…” she sighed.

I looked around the room, the faces of those who’d known Alexander were hard, unflinching. I swallowed hard and looked down. Before he turned into a crazy killer demon is what she’d wanted to say. What would they have done if I hadn’t been there? Who would have taken charge of Africa? Chaos would have erupted. “Please continue.” I forced the words out of my mouth before my mind could wander too far away.

“She asked me to report the results of her search to you; that is why I’m here.” Brittany paused again to look at me, “The last time I spoke to her she had recruited six hundred and seventy four humans to help us.”

My eyes widened along with the rest, “That’s… more than I thought we would get.”

“But less than you were hoping for.” Zaiden said sadly from where he was standing behind me, he placed his hands on my shoulders in comfort.

Brittany cleared her throat, “Faith was heading North, the humans believe that there is another large clan there of about five hundred that might be willing to join the cause.”

The word ‘clan’ made my ears twitch. Rain’s sister, Su, had said that they were in a clan and they were as North as you could go. “I see.” There was no way the world was that small, was there?

“But what about the other continents?” Brittany asked, “Aren’t there humans there who are willing to help as well?”

It was Viktor who answered her, “My ways of governing have been… worse than Alex’s way, there is no way that the humans here will help.”

“And without another human telling them about the cause I doubt there are humans who will listen.” Norabo added.

“Then we need to get humans out to the other continents.” I said.

“Agreed.”

Tabitha frowned, “I could…”

Everyone turned to look at her.

“You could…?” I asked when no one else said anything.

She hung her shoulders, “I could talk to some humans and tell them that you bloodsuckers aren’t all bad and that the demons are much worse.”

Norabo shot out of his chair, “You would do that?!”

She shrugged and looked away from him, “I know that you all have good intentions, I’d have to be very blind not to see that you’re all trying to save the world in your own messed up way.”

Norabo fell back into his chair with a dumb folded expression and he put a hand over his open mouth, “Blimey.”

“But I can’t do it alone; I’m going to need help so you really should get some of those humans out to other continents.” She looked at Lucy hesitantly, “Lucy will be able to help as well; people will like her.”

That made Lucy smile, “Thanks Tabitha.”

I was so proud that Tabitha had said something that wasn’t completely mean to Lucy I couldn’t stop smiling, “Well I guess that’s it then. Brittany,” I said and my noble instantly gave her full attention to me, “I need you to go back to Africa an take some humans to Asia, get a few common vampires to carry them.”

She bowed her head, “Yes, Ash.”

“And tell the common vampires that they are going to need to carry the humans who are going to help us to the battlefield along with whatever they’re going to need to kill the demons.”

“It shall be done.” She stood up, “Well, I’ll be off then. It was good seeing you Ash.”

“You should stay a day.” Viktor said, “You must be emotionally tired, take just one day off to rest a little and eat and then you can go.”

Brittany gave me a hesitant look and I realised she was waiting for me to give permission. I weighed my options. War was coming, but it was true, she must have been tired and we still had three weeks before we had to meet up with the others… “Alright, stay one day.”

“Thank you.”

I was about to say something else, but I was cut off when I realised Zaiden was standing in front of me with his teeth bared, “Who are you?” I peeked around him to see that we had yet another guest, this time one Zaiden didn’t trust all that much.

The vampire standing next to Jeremiah, Viktor’s first noble, looked at Zaiden with tired eyes.

Norabo narrowed his eyes, “That’s Mitch, he’s Neculai’s noble.” He looked at the vampire intently, “What are you doing here?”

Mitch sighed as his eyes shifted between us, “My royal has found the place in this world with the most spiritual energy.”

I clenched my fists on my lap at his words, that was where the battle would be, that was where we were going to defend ourselves from the demons. “Where?” I asked in a breathless voice.

“Spain,” he said, “The demons will enter this world through a rift in Spain.”