The 21st Year

CHAPTER ONE: GRODEN'S POV HUMAN REALM I've been in Section 30260 for a little over five years now. The King, a massive and burly creature, personally selected seventy men and women to train at Facility 401. We were to become the Royal Soldiers, his personal guards. Our duties included everything from protecting the King to taking on covert team missions. Seeing how we each have different abilities since we're demons, we are basically Special Ops on steroids. My height of six foot four inches and weight of nearly two hundred thirty pounds of muscle makes me the largest soldier here. Most of my team were men around the age of twenty-five, coming in under my weight at two hundred pounds. The King had us go through extensive training before we could be chosen for the Royal Guard. Our first lessons were more like going to tot school all over again. We were taught seven different languages, the human mannerisms, and all the facts of both our and their worlds. It was a year of torture. The second year was battle statistics- planning and mapping out our missions perfectly- along with hand-to-hand combat and six other forms of fighting techniques. My specialty? Swords. I am absolutely beast with a sword. You know, not to brag or anything. Not long after we were deployed for the first time, the King pinned me, General of the Royal Guard. A year ago, on a top-secret assignment, I was stabbed in the back while taking out an assassin. Supposed to have been a clean- in and out- mission. No such luck there. Since then, my team and I have been sticking to the palace. King Dentorri doesn't want his best men out of his sight. Which is good. Because I didn't want him out of mine. Since being on palace duty, I haven't seen much action. So I was a bit unsettled to be called forth by the King two days ago. He isn't a fan of sending soldiers out on lone missions. My quest? I'm due in the Human Realm to acquire a precious package. Perched on the cliff, I look over the city and plan out what was asked of me. Three hundred forty-five thousand people in Anaheim, California. I have to find one single human. A woman. I don't know much about her. King Dentorri gave a very vague description of the woman along with a name and last known address. I have three months to find her and convince her to come back with me to the Demon Realm. I highly doubt she will. When I tell her what I am, that I'm some kind of a monster in their eyes, she'll scream and run. I need to figure this out and quickly. Noticing the gray clouds above, I take shelter under a nearby tree, praying to the gods that it doesn't storm. At dawn I will seek out this woman and start my task of bringing her home. Reclining my head back against the tree's thick trunk, I let my eyes close and take in the nightmares.