Demonic Inheritance

The eyes of the man standing before me are scary enough to peel paint. Where others have white eyeballs, his are black, his irises are a bright fake looking blue and his pupils are pale white. His hair is long, reaching his collar, and styled to purposely look messy. However it had enough gel and hairspray to hold it in place so that he could move at the speed of light and it would fail to move. Below the collar of his white button down and along his forearms are intricate white patterned tattoos standing out against his dark skin. To anyone else this man probably looked like an eccentric rich man. His suit was so obviously expensive my wallet started to cry. The watch and chain he wore were high end giving him that classy man look while his hair, eyes and tattoos gave him an edge that could cause women within a 3 mile radius to drop to their knees and pray. Too bad for him, I am not one of those women. I know those eyes of his are real and not altered. When he smiles revealing pointed teeth images of sharks rush through my mind. Despite the fact that my skeleton was almost crawling out of my skin I couldn’t run away.  "Just a coffee, please. Black with three sugars." His accent is a strange amalgamation of south African and French. I watch as one of the ladies behind him fans herself and whispers to her friend.  "2.70." I say while holding back the nervous bile. He hands his change over and smiles again before moving to a booth near the front door. When I am sure he is no longer looking in my direction I slip out the back door and send one of the other girls to mind the counter. In the alley behind the coffee shop I climb the fire escape to the roof as fast as I can.  For the first time in 3 years I had gotten too comfortable. The last 18 years of freedom are wasted if I cannot escape right this second. Running as fast as I can I jump from the coffee shop roof to the next one over and continue like this until I reach my apartment 10 blocks away. I could have run or flown faster but the risk of being seen by humans was too high.  As I am now, if I get caught by the faction's hunters I'll just be dragged back into Alfheimr however if I expose myself to humans I will for sure be killed. Climbing through the second story window of my apartment building i lithly dash towards my door. Closing and bolting it behind me is useless so I rush blindly towards the bathroom. Standing on the toilet I lift the loose tile and pull down my pre packed duffle.  My mother had taught me well, always keep money stashed away, have a pre packed bag at all times and never get comfortable. Too bad I failed to follow that last one. When she died three years ago I was too distraught to pay attention to anything else and ended up staying in this city for too long.  The thoughts of my mother threaten to spill tears down my face but I sniffle and hold them back. Time is running out. There is a 99.99% chance that the man at the coffee shop is a tracker sent by the factions to catch me. Throwing the bag over my shoulder I rush to the roof once again. Placing the bag on the ground with the handles facing up I cast a look around at the city I had become accustomed too. The sound of paws hitting the rooftop pull me from my wishy-washy feelings. I delayed again and now it would cost me my freedom. Slowly I turn and come face to face with a beast composed of flames.  “Huh, fire type Nemean lion. You must be a big shot.” I say to the man from the cafe. He sat atop the beast forcing me to lean backwards just to make eye contact.  “Running? Did you actually believe you could escape?” His mount lets off a low rumbling roar to accentuate his words. “I am pretty fast.” I shrug noncommittally. Him and I both know that I won’t try to run now.  If I had kept my head start instead of getting distracted I may have stood a chance.  With a menacing smile he holds out his hand towards me. Lifting my bag over my shoulder again I accept his hand and he lifts me to sit in front of him on his mount.  “Why should she ride me, she is not worthy, let her run.” The Nemean lioness grumbles in the beast language.The tracker laughs before easing her into a run. With his hand outstretched, and the tattoos on his body glowing, he rips the fabric of worlds. In a few strides we enter Alfheimr and I glance around his arm to catch a final glimpse of the human city. “She can’t move fast enough.” The tracker replies in fluent Beast language and I keep all expressions off my face. There is no need for them to know I am also fluent. I also won’t correct his wrong assumption of my speed. “She smells weird.” The lioness grumbles.  After that the conversation stops and She concentrates on running. I watch in awe as the scenery around us rapidly shifts from rolling green hills to purple forests then to mountains covered in lava that flows like rivers. Towns, cities and farmlands dot the land in the distance and I find myself straining to see more. I was six the last time I had been in Alfheimr and even then I had only seen the inside of the Darkness Gate Fortress.  “So, Mr tracker man, where are we headed?” I ask as cheerfully as I can muster. “The official university of Alfheimr.” he smiles behind the terrifying words. “Why, I’m but a lowly factionless, how could I enter the university.” Pressed against him front the way we are seated, I feel his stomach flex as he laughs heartily.  “Oh Princess, please save that bullshit for some other i***t. I know exactly who you are.” I shiver at the obvious threat in his voice.  Twelve years ago my mother had fled Alfheimr with me in tow to avoid the wrath of my fathers official wife. She wanted me dead and had sent assassins to the human world in search of us ever since. It seemed unfair that I have a woman wanting to kill me just for being born a year before her own son. I blame my father for not siring her some children before messing around with my mother. It is taboo to have a child with a mistress before the main wife. “Ok.” I whisper and turn my whole body until I'm face to face with the tracker. My knees resting over each of his thighs and my arms braced behind me to hold myself upright. “Mr tracker man, What could I offer for you to take me back to the human world and leave me be?” “You are very lazy for someone trying to negotiate release.” He smirks and leans forward until his nose is touching mine. “There is nothing a child like you could possibly offer me. I have everything.”  “Your body says differently,” I say in a singsong voice and run my hand down his chest. He catches my wrist before I reach his waistband so I run the tip of my nose along the ridge of his. “Watch it girl, I have killed succubus for less.” He smiles sharply and I flinch back a little. The blatant way he speaks of killing is a bit too much for me. Simultaneously I feel flattered that he would compare me to a succubus, one of the most beautiful species in existence. “Stop flirting, we have arrived.” the lioness growls in warning. The tracker lifts me with ease and moves me into a forward facing position once again. His hands on my hips tighten for a moment when our bodies brush against one another and I smile secretly. He may not be willing to accept my offer but my pride was unscathed thanks to his reaction that I can feel against my ass. The lioness slows as we approach a behemoth wall surrounding what seemed to be an ancient city. The architecture is like something from a fairy-tale and it takes a moment for me to remember I am not on earth any more. The gate we pass through is built into the wall and a long stretch of paved pathway leads us straight towards the giant castle in the centre of the city. I would bet my left tit that the castle is the university. The people of Alfheimr always were showy upper class snobs. At the bottom of the castle stairs the tracker dismounts before lifting me off the lionesses back. With a wicked smile he tosses me over his shoulder like a fresh kill and carts me up and through the open doors. Multiple students in obnoxious looking uniforms stare with obvious second hand embarrassment at the spectacle that is my ass hanging half out of the coffee shop shorts I am wearing. When one of the girl groups we pass giggles and point my anger boils over.  Gripping his powerful legs I pull myself lower over his shoulder and bite down on his asscheek. With a very manly grunt he drops me and I catch myself just before I smash against the granite floor. With a twist I land on my feet and raise my body off the ground. Human gymnastics combined with my powerful reflexes makes me basically a ninja. “f**k, keep your teeth to yourself.” He snarls at me and the resemblance between him and a chihuahua is uncanny. “Do I look like a fresh kill? I have legs and can walk myself, lead the way Mr Tracker Man.” I bow low like a butler while giving him the finger. A grunt is the only reply before he starts walking again. With a smug smile I follow behind him and stare down the people who dare stare at me. The tracker has longer legs and I basically power walk just to keep pace with him. It takes a full five minutes of walking until we finally reach a room at the centre of the castle. The tracker opens the door and bows himself away from the entrance before pushing me through the doors with a smile. I stumble but don’t fall and when i look back at him he mouths ‘payback’ while rubbing his ass cheek.  “Well I have no idea what you did to piss him off but he is never that rude.” I look towards the voice and feel all the blood in my body rush to my brain. “Atreya, It has been a while. Sorry it took so long to find you.” Tears fall from my eyes and I rush forward without thinking. My fathers arms open as if he was going to embrace me and when my fist collides with his jaw the shock on his face is all consuming. I don’t cease and push my advantage. My father blocks blows from me and moves to avoid some of the more dangerous strikes all the while avoiding hitting me back. As he continues to be gentle and not react my anger just rises until it is all consuming. My speed of attack increases and as I begin to overwhelm him I jump off the ground while swinging a kick at his face. He raises his hand in time to catch the kick and the force sends him through the closed doors out into the hallway I had just entered through. A group of students was milling about the hallway trying to engage the tracker in conversation but I had no time for any of them. As my father stands from where he had landed I rush towards him and lower my head. The pain lasts only a split second before twisting horns sprout straight up from the edge of my hairline standing a foot tall. A gasp spreads throughout the crowd as my fathers own horns split from his skull. They are over two feet high and end with violently sharp points. As our curling horns clash against each other a sound similar to lightning sounds throughout the castle. Twisting his head my father flings me across the hallway and I crash violently against the stone walls. My horns retreat and my body falls to the floor with a solid sounding thump.  “Atreya, I am so sorry.” My father rushes forward with tears sitting along the edges of his eyes.  Slowly I manage to stand and with a glare at the gathered crowd I spin back towards the office. The doors are laying haphazardly on their hinges so I pick them up and slot them back into place. Sitting in my fathers chair I throw my feet up on his desk and wait for him. It takes a few minutes, probably calming all those students, but he eventually enters with a frown. He glances at my feet on his desk but says nothing before he sits across from me in the chair for students. “Well, you definitely are your mothers daughter.” I growl like a feral animal when he mentions my mother and he raises his hands placatingly. “Don’t you f*****g mention her.” The warning goes over his head because he continues in his next breath. “You know I loved her right. More than my first wife, more than all the other mistresses, and they knew that. It’s why I sent the both of you away.” I frown at his words before removing my feet from the desk and leaning on my elbows. “You didn’t send us away, mother fled with me?” I accidentally turned the sentence into a question and it makes me want to kick myself. “No, I sent you two off and hid you in the human world. I have been supporting the both of you while I dealt with Morgana. She turned against me when she discovered I was the one hiding you. She tried to take my kingdom and my people. I had to join sides with the Seelie and Unseelie courts just to stop her.” “Well that is unbelievable. How in Alfheimr did she manage to cower the Demon King?”  “She used your brother as a hostage. Her own son. If I had moved recklessly I would have lost another child to her vile ways.” His face is pained and I cannot stop myself from mirroring his pain. “I managed to save your brother thanks to the two Seelie Factions' help. Morgana was killed and I wanted to bring you home immediately but you had disappeared.” “Yea, your precious wife had assassins follow us and Mom was poisoned. We went off the grid and hid but she succumbed to her injuries three years ago.” At my acknowledgment of her death my father seems to crumble in on himself. The raw emotions on his face are too much and I have to look away. “Your mother was more than just the woman I loved, she was my beloved mount as well.” Yeah I knew this. It was the reason my existence was barely tolerated by anyone from the Alfheimr realm. “You were a beautiful impossibility and we were so happy when you were born. Not a single blemish on your dark skin, no hooves in your humanoid form. You were and still are perfect.” “Perhaps the reason a child between the two of you was possible is because your Dark form is basically a beast itself.” The corner of his lips lifts in a smile despite the fact I am attempting to insult him.  “Perhaps.” “So, I understand that the two different Seelie factions helped you take down Morgana, but that doesn't explain how the Demon King became the headmaster of some posh ass University.” The plaque on his door had read ‘Headmaster’ in swirling gold letters. “It was the deal, In exchange for their help, I was asked to use my strength to protect their children as they complete their studies. Although I agree that it is a bit posh.” A true smile takes his face for the first time since I had arrived, “I have changed a few things however, Demon spawn and Beasts can now attend the school alongside the others.” “Isn’t that dangerous for the Beasts. It magnifies the chances of them being chosen as mounts.” When a person from Alfheimr recognises a Beast as their mount the Beast is magically bound to that person until one of them dies. In some cases it can be a beautiful story. The Beast and their person develop a friendship or relationship and it is mutually beneficial to them both however there is also a downside. Sometimes the beast is tortured and abused or used as cannon fodder in wars and battles. These stories are the reason most Beasts stay in secluded communities away from the other citizens of Alfheimr. “There are new laws now to protect the Beasts. The chances of something bad happening are the same as everyone else's now. Obviously evil people exist so it can never be truly eliminated but it’s good enough that quite a few Beasts now attend the school. There are even specific classes for Bound Beasts and their chosen Person to develop skills together.” He looks proud of himself but I couldn’t agree. My mother had told me stories about her friends who had been taken as mounts. My mother may have gotten lucky with the ‘love of her life’ however too many others didn’t. “Sure. So why am I here Father?” The word slips out of my mouth before I can stop it and the Demon King before me practically glows. “Don’t get a big head. There is a lot I still haven’t forgiven you for.” Despite my attempt to stay mad it just wasn’t possible. Finally hearing his side of the story was like a weight slowly lifting off my shoulders. I still blamed his stupidity for my mothers death however it was obvious he still loved her and she had definitely loved him right up to her final breath. “Well daughter, Your brother does not wish to become the Demon king, he says he is scared he will succumb to the vile temptations as his mother had,  so as the oldest of all my children the inheritance is yours.” I almost vomit at his words and he laughs as I gag. “Yes, I know you dislike the idea but it is your responsibility. It also doesn’t help that you just proved yourself strong enough to rule. All Demon spawn and by now the rest of Alfheimr would have already heard of the girl who fought toe to toe with the Demon King.”  His words have me cursing my impulsive actions but a small part of me feels excited at the possibilities. To become the Demon King is my birthright and it is now sitting before me like a golden apple. As an excited huff escapes my nostrils I remember an important detail we seemed to be glossing over. “But, I am part beast? What if someone chooses me as a mount? Won’t they gain control of the Demon kingdom if I become king?” The possibility of a foreign enemy gaining control of the demon kingdom through me has cold sweat breaking out along my spine. “That isn’t possible. Bound Beasts still have freedom and autonomy. Unless your chosen person can physically overpower you and make you into their b***h you will be fine.” A slow proud smile spreads across his face before he continues, “You took a hit from the current demon king and only broke a few bones yet you stood up and walked away. I doubt a single being in Alfheimr could take control of you. You are also my daughter, like I would let someone live if they had ill intentions towards you.” “Okay, you want me to inherit your kingdom, so why am I HERE? At the university?” Even as I ask my brain finally kicks in and I start to piece things together on my own. “Ew, you want me to study here? I just finished that bullshit known as high school. How could I want to study at university immediately?” “Well you need to learn how to run a kingdom to begin with, you also need to learn advanced combat techniques and gain full control of your Beast form.” I watch as he stands and moves around to my side of the desk. “Your fighting ability is excellent considering you were trained by humans however against a trained being in Alfheimr you would probably lose. Your strength cannot bridge the gap in ability no matter how awe inspiring it is.”  “Gee thanks, I wonder whose fault it is that I was raised in the human world?” Snarky is basically my middle name and I almost feel bad as he flinches at my words. “Okay then.” Leaning on the desk he presses a button on the intercom I hadn't noticed, “Cami, can you bring the documents I had Mistress Matilda arrange.” “Yes Teacher.” The bright and bubbly voice that sounds through the speaker isn’t what I was expecting. “Your classes have already been arranged and you will start tomorrow. Any others you wish to take from the list of Extracurriculars just let Mistress Matilda in the front office know. She will arrange it all.” A soft knock sounds on the door and I look up as it opens to reveal a small female with tiny pointed ears. My spine straightens unconsciously and my eyes become glued to her movements as she floats across the floor. Her skin is a light shade of brown and has an iridescence that makes her look like she is glowing, her eyes are bright purple with silver pupils and her mouth curves in a perfect full cupid bow. Her face looks small enough to fit in my hand, her body is slender and wispy yet I had a feeling her ridiculous uniform was hiding some form of perfection from me. Sticking out the back of her shirt are sparkling gossamer wings worthy of worship.  “Atreya.” My fathers voice breaks my concentration and I raise my eyes to his face with a growl. He smiles knowingly and I almost punch him in the jaw again. “H-here is y-your schedule.” Her stutter is probably caused by my uninvited staring and I smile at her before I remember that can be seen as a threat right now. Since I entered Alfheimr I haven't been able to get my teeth to look human again so at this point I probably looked like a be-fanged monster to her. I knew that she would see all my teeth sharpened and my upper and lower canines extended like the Beast I am on the inside. With a squeal she spins to flee the room and I watch as her bright blue heels click against the marble floors. I smile at the sight of lacy white socks on her feet. It is a strange look but for some unknown reason it worked on her. “That is Cami, she is earning extra credit as my student receptionist.” My father leans his ass against the desk and rubs his chin with a smile on his face. “You seem quite taken by her.” “Yea whatever. So where am I going to be living?” I wasn't sure why but my inner child desperately wished he would say I was staying wherever he was. “In my castle obviously. I had the maids make up your room and you need to meet your siblings and step mothers.” Those words have me cringing but a small part of me understands. If my mother had accepted it why couldn’t I. “I know you were raised amongst the humans but things are done a little differently here. Please try to keep the judgement off your face.”  “I can only promise to try.” I shrug my shoulders and finally vacate his chair. My spine was now fully healed from where it had shattered against the wall earlier. “I want to have a look around the castle campus. Is that ok?” “Sure. Please try not to get into trouble. When you are ready to leave, just come back here to my office.” I smile over my shoulder as I leave his office. Daddy dearest was probably used to little demon spawn who actually listened to their parents. I giggle out loud as I’m walking and a few lingering students stare at me in confusion.  “The voices are funny.” I loudly conspiracy whisper at them. The boy who is rudely staring at my chest is startled as I put my face in front of him and begin to spout bullshit about the supposed voices in my head. As he shrinks away from me the people around us begin to whisper. After a few seconds I stand woodenly and begin to saunter down the hallway without a care in the world. Now they won’t stare at my t**s. After walking around for a while I finally find the most important room in the entire university. The Cafeteria. Although this one looks more like an elaborate dining room built for parties. From the door way I can smell some of the most delicious aromas I had ever had the pleasure to encounter. Moving towards an area that looked like a buffet yet had manservants manning it I can feel my stomach growling violently.  “Come on Cami, it is just you me and the help in here. Why can’t I just touch you. They won’t say anything unless they wish to lose their tongues.” The slimy voice was coming from behind one of the pillars at the back of the room and my curiosity got the better of me.  “Don’t touch me… Please.” The last word is said on a sob and I recognise that timid voice in an instant.  “Just a bit Cami.” A soft thud sounds and my body moves before I can think. Stepping around the pillar I take in the scene and violence once again surfaces inside me. If I had been wearing a leash it would have snapped.