His second chance at a happy life

His Purpose

I had to return to the other territories to finish decoding the map, as it was written in a series of underworld languages, most of which hadn’t been spoken in eons and were nearly extinct. The search was long, and I traveled far. For a time, I relied on my ability to turn invisible to sneak into buildings and gather information. While I worked on the map, my status in the Underworld began to shift. Grendel, my friend, and the other leaders were forging alliances with territories willing to join a truce and build an empire of peace and order. Once, during a change of power in the realm, I wandered into a territory illegally and was spotted. If not for my friend’s intervention, I might have had to use more violent means to escape. He managed to convince them of my good intentions, granting me access to their ancient texts without too much bloodshed. Not every encounter ended so smoothly—there’s a reason I became known as the crazy wandering dragon. But names never mattered to me; I was focused on my goal: finding a way back to Earth. When I finally uncovered the banshees’ secrets, my path veered away from what others had planned for me. I was given the chance to find the ripple between my Realm and Earth, something I’d never imagined possible. Without hesitation, ignoring pleas for me to stay, I flew farther and farther until no sound of nature could be heard and the blue sun disappeared. The Underworld had stabilized, and though not all joined, enough did that, for the first time, we were united and civilized.

I was chosen for my vast knowledge of nearly every other species and quickly became the most fearsome hellion to roam this realm. The Underworld was meant to be ruled like the Roman Empire, a system familiar to many of the elders and most respected beings who had last walked the earth during that era. Back then, before the angels banished all non-humans from the mortal world, it was a popular way to govern. Those the angels deemed unworthy of their homes were cast into this place as the dark ages began, and any who managed to escape were hunted down—or the angels would strike deals with hellions to do the job, offering promises they could never fulfill. Angels are the worst kind of creation.

Much like the Roman Empire, we had both written and unwritten laws. The cultural laws dictated how one should behave when entering another space, while the written laws applied to everyone under the alliance, with no exceptions. Magistrates were tasked with listening to the people and drafting bills, which would be tested across all territories. If a bill earned enough support, it came to me for final approval. Once accepted, it became legislation, and the news spread far and wide. With multiple levels of command, it was easy to maintain a system of checks and balances. The emperor served as the voice of all, keeping peace, while the courts managed affairs within the palace. Beyond the capital, client kings in the underworld oversaw their domains, with four large regions divided into smaller towns and villages. Achieving peace had been a long, difficult journey, but it was worth it. For the first time since my rebirth as a demon, my home was settling into a calm haze—until the warm breeze touched the back of my neck, as if fate was whispering it was time to go.

The first time I reached the rift, my two seconds-in-command quickly forced me back to the capital. They insisted I return, and since I felt no resistance from the guiding hand of fate, I complied. The next time however, I found myself venturing deep onto Earth, down the crowded, muddy streets of France, as its revolution roared through the city. It had been only 222 years since I’d last been here, and to my disgust, humans were still senselessly killing one another. I was stunned at how little time had passed on Earth when I’d spent ten times longer in the underworld.

I arrived at the town square, where I met an angel for the first time, disguised with a human face. On the stage, he let the rope of a blade fall. The dull edge came down on a woman’s neck, cutting it just short of clean. Her head hung by a thread until the angel struck again, tearing it free and tossing it into a bucket. With blood still on his hand, he gestured for the next person to step forward. The crowd roared, their cheers swelling with excitement for the next victim. The butcher’s eyes gleamed with joy and a hunger for more blood. Disgusted, I slipped away, careful to remain unseen by both humans and angel.

I reached the deep slums, countless lifeless eyes following me as I tried to understand the cause of this grim scene. I should have stayed in the Underworld if all I was going to see here was more blood in the air. Anger welled up in my chest, disappointment settling in as I realized I’d let my hopes for the Underworld’s prosperity cloud my expectations of humans—they were no better than us hellions. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the scorching touch of fate, igniting me from within. When it vanished, the chill of early winter slammed into my chest. I scanned the muddy streets, where countless children were scattered, many deformed or teetering on the edge of death. My gaze locked with that of a frail, malnourished ten-year-old girl in front of me, her bulging eyes fixed on mine. She radiated dark demonic magic—there was no doubt immense power slept within her small frame. Her eyes glowed a deep green, energy brimming and ready to burst forth, and she saw right through my glamour. We stood in silence, her gaze unflinching before my monstrous form. Instead of fear, she offered me a sad, curious look, tinged with a spark of hope.

"What are you?" she finally asked. Hugging herself tightly, she clutched at her thin jacket, trying to keep warm. I stepped in front of her, shielding her from the gusts of wind.

"A demon," I replied with a low rumble. Her brows lifted, but in a hollow voice, she asked.

"Will you kill me then? Will I finally be able to die? Can I reunite with the rest of my family?" Her voice grew quieter with each word, the questions dissolving into muffled sobs she tried to hide, along with the tears I could see threatening to fall. My heart ached with sadness, and I hesitated before shaking my head. She reached out, clutching the edge of my cloak as her tears spilled and she collapsed in despair. Her wails echoed her anguish and pain. Fate had brought me to this child—I heard it whisper to me. I had to protect this seer at all costs. I lifted her into my arms, and she buried her face in my cloak, holding on tightly. N’eteri had told me the winds of fate would guide me to my purpose, but I never imagined it would be a human child harboring so much dark energy. I learned she had absorbed her father’s vicious, negative soul as he died, granting her a dangerous focus of dark magic. I knew then I had to ensure she lived without fear, free to be whoever she wanted, because the moment she entered my life, she became my precious daughter. I would live for her happiness. Still a ruler of an empire, I took her to my palace in the Underworld to live by my side.

She grew slowly, as time moved differently in the Underworld, taking eight hundred years to reach adulthood. When she finally turned eighteen, she was more than ready to return to Earth and start her own life. During her long stay, we both learned a great deal about seers and the many different kinds that exist. She was a bright, happy child, and though strange things often happened around her, she became someone of great importance in our world. She lit up my life and touched the lives of everyone she met, making my kingdom better because of her. I had tried to take her back to Earth a few times, but a mysterious creature hunted her and others like her. Still, she longed to spend the rest of her days in the human realm, and fate seemed to pull her back to Earth. I had to let her go. With her vast knowledge from the Underworld, we crafted a pendant with a communication stone so she could reach me whenever she wished. With a heavy heart, I sent her to live on the edge of the French countryside, where she met her husband and began building a new family. Though we stayed in touch, as did other seers, my attention shifted back to the Underworld and its latest troubles.

It would be thirty-one years before I set foot in the human realm again. Amici was on her deathbed, and we had already said our goodbyes. After her passing, I spent less time with my seers, shifting my focus to the strange activities of the angels. They were appearing in the Underworld through countless tears between realms, some even spotted near seers on Earth. My people reported being followed and then snatched from the streets. Soon, news of missing demons, vampires, and other hellions began to spread. Some were eventually found, but they were never the same as before.

I didn’t return to Earth again until 1971, when I was jolted out of bed by fate’s nasty breeze. I rushed toward the tear pulling me in and found myself at a compound surrounded by trees and tall, wired walls. Hovering above, an unpleasant ice-cold sensation pinched at me. Scanning the ground, I spotted a little girl radiating strong dark magic and an even darker woman beside her. Her aura was inky black, like the underworld itself, and her malevolent smile as she looked up at me sent a heavy rock sinking into my gut, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth as our eyes locked. I had a terrible feeling, but the girl bore a striking resemblance to Scarlet, and fate tugged me toward her. I felt the pull on my fingertips guiding me down to speak with them. Suddenly, a strange translucent fae appeared, and a fight broke out between us. In the struggle, I noticed it shared the same features as the creatures infesting the southern part of the Underworld. They’d been a constant pain, yet I couldn’t help but wonder why it was here, pursuing the woman and child. We eventually concluded they weren’t true hellions, but their origin remained a mystery.

Much to my disappointment, I couldn’t stay long that first day with the two of them as I’d hoped, but I knew I had to get the body back to the labs before it vanished like the others. I had to return so I could see the little girl again. Before I left, she slipped a note into my cloak with the letters S.O.S. When we met, she begged me to help her escape. I flew her away, and she told me everything she knew about her mother’s actions. Her mother ran a cult, killing innocent people in an attempt to strengthen her and her daughter’s dark magic. After reading Scarlet’s journals, she became convinced that the best way to fuel her power was by murdering as many as possible. But it wasn’t working, and she had started to suspect that killing her own child—her only living blood relative—might yield a different result.

I helped the girl and destroyed the rest of that terrible woman’s home, burning it all down and taking only Scarlet’s journals. Before I could tell her myself, she saw the news report about the compound fire and decided never to speak to me again. I understood, but she was still a child, and I couldn’t leave her alone, so for a few years one of my guards kept watch over her. She hated the idea of being watched constantly, refused to wear the necklace, and made it hard for me to protect her while running my kingdom. If I hadn’t let my anger take over that day, things might not have turned out that way, but I couldn’t hold back when the woman spoke of the hundreds of innocent lives lost to her greed for power. That same day, I learned something interesting about the angels, but they were already one step ahead of me, forcing me to begin a serious investigation into their realm. They might have called it heaven, but I was starting to believe it was anything but.

Another fifteen years passed before I was forced to return to Earth. The guard I had watching the girl was sent home by the now-grown woman using her magic, and I needed to be sure she was strong enough to handle herself before getting back to work. I was met by a tired, angry woman in her twenties—the former cult girl, no longer a small red-haired child. Her powers were formidable, and she was not to be trifled with. The magic she’d learned from traveling had evolved into something entirely new to the magical world, strengthened by objects she found on Earth. My report said she’d cast out my demon before it could harm her husband, who had been beating her. She claimed something had changed him into this beast. Instead of killing him, I promised to take him to the Underworld for examination. She placed a sleeping charm on him, and I prepared to move her and her young child to a new home. Before I could, though, he became a husk of a man. I had to stop him from attacking, which frightened the young girl. Regretfully, I left them in a hotel across the country with enough money to hide but no real explanation, knowing I couldn’t offer anything useful without the information I didn’t have.