The Angel of Demons

Chapter 1

     It was a warm summer day in the little village of Albyn. The village was small and quiet but very lovely. There was plenty of wildlife out today and the water from the lake was crystal clear. Adrianna sat beside the water's edge with her little sister Elaine right beside her. They were supposed to be doing chores but had taken a break to enjoy the day.

    "Hey, Adrianna..." Elaine said, pulling Adrianna out of her own thoughts.

    "Yeah?" she replied.

     Elaine sat still for a moment, thinking hard about what she was going to say next. She was usually straightforward with her speech so it was a little odd to see.

    "Do you think... mom would let me go learn from the academy in the capital? I don't think I could learn as much as I want here in the village."

    "What's this all of a sudden? You know mom would kill you if you asked something like that. We don't have that kind of money and it's too dangerous to go there by yourself. Besides, the academy only allows nobles, which to do that you have to have magic."

    "I know but, mom's sick and I want to become a doctor and help her get better..." Elaine trailed off.

    It was no secret that their mother was sick. The doctors in the village gave her a few more years at best. The doctors of the capital would be able to heal whatever it was that she had, but they wanted large amounts of money that none of them had. Their father would have been able to do something about it, but he died protecting his family. Maybe Adrianna could... no. Mom said not to.

    "It'll be fine. We will figure something out. Everything will be fine in the end." she finally said. She wanted to believe it.

    She got up and picked up her basket of food that she had bought from the market and her and Elaine walked back to their house. On their way there, they had noticed some people that they have never seen before. These men were big and looked like some sort of mercenaries or soldiers by the way they dressed. They were in all black with capes on their left shoulders that had the insignia of a red dragon printed on it.

    They were waiting in the middle of the village where the well was. Adrianna was curious about what they were doing here, but decided it was best to just get home and mind her own business. She nudged at Elaine and they both continued on. It wasn't long before they were at the very familiar door of their home. She walked in and set the basket on the table nearby for Elaine to put away while she checked in on their mom.

    "Mom. We're home." she said, walking into a small room that was sparse except for a small bed and nightstand. A woman laid in the bed, looking out the window next to her.

    "Welcome home! How did it go?" her mother asked, a smile stretching across her pale face.

    "Good. The lady at the general store was generous today and gave us a little bit of extra food since it was going to spoil soon. The only thing odd was there were these men in the square that looked like possible soldiers."

    Her mother frowned, "Hopefully they leave soon. I don't know what they could possibly want in a small village like this."

    As if to answer her question, there was a scream outside. Adrianna looked out the window to see where the source of the noise was to see the very soldiers now taking people and killing others. She quickly closed the window and ran out to the dining room to get Elaine and bring her further into the house. That's when she heard banging at the door. She quickly locked it and ran into the room where her mother was, Elaine in tow.

    After a few moments, the banging stopped. Then it grew louder. They were no longer trying to get permission to come inside but were trying to break down the door. She held onto her sister for fear of what would happen if the men got inside. More banging, then the crushing sound of wood splintering into pieces. She got up and held the door to the room shut, hoping to keep the intruder out.

    "Let me in or else." a gruff voice said from the other side of the door.

    "No! Leave us alone. What could you possibly want?!" she cried back.

    "We need bodies."

    Suddenly, the door swung open against her weight as if she were nothing. she lunged at the man who was entering the room, but he caught her by the wrist. She tried to kick him but failed. He raised his hand at her and swung towards her neck. She looked at her sister who was standing there with fear in her eyes. Her mother looked like she was about to cry. Everything got blurry, and in a split second- the world faded to black.