Page 60 of Dark Captivation

Everything I’ve done. It’s all been for her. Whether or not she understands it is irrelevant. I have lived for thousands of years and everything I have learned during that time has taught me one inalienable truth. Without enough power, everything that we love will be taken from us eventually. There are evil forces that must be suppressed if fragile goodness is to thrive. This is the nature of the world.

“I owe you no explanation. I am the King of Demons. The protection and advancement of our kind is my duty to lead. How I go about that is my decision, not yours,” I bellowed, cutting a chunk out of his hip with my claws.

He winced in pain, gripping the area as it hemorrhaged blood. He lifted his sword high with his other hand. Sweat spilled down his face making him blink rapidly.

“You owe me no explanation, do you? So arrogant and you can’t even see it. You know what I think? Your invasions have nothing to do with securing demonic dominance or our protection. You don’t give a shit about demons!” His legs wobbled haphazardly as agony consumed him. “You show your subjects nothing but callousness and indifference. You resent us for something that happened so long ago. When the fuck will you forgive and forget?”

I glowered at him coldly as the circle of blood stains on his pants grew wider.

“I am the king the people want.” He staggered to the side as his blood loss advanced. “You are not a god. And you are the last thing demons need. We both know that the only one in the city with a darker soul than mine is yours.” I advanced on Varcus, happy to deal the finishing blow.

The beat of footsteps impeded me and I turned to watch Sunny cruise onto the roof. Lucile came running after her.

“Lady Sunny, I asked you to stay with me!” Lucile shouted. “My King, we found her, and the princess locked inside a room full of children. The terrorists fled before we arrived.”

The sun illuminated Sunny’s shimmering green hair as she sprinted for me, shouting my name. My anger melted away as I thanked the gods that she was alright and here with me again.

“Lady Sunny, get back here!” Lucile screamed from the door and Sunny ignored her, running to me. The look in Sunny’s eyes was one of a type of warmth and care that I hadn’t seen there since we were children playing in the forest.

Everything was coming together as I’d hoped. Little by little she had been softening towards me. Every day through my enchanted tattoo I saw her love for me grow. Soon I would ask her to marry me and we would be together, forever. I would build a safe world for us to live, one where no one would ever hurt her or me ever again.

My dream cloud burst into flames as a burning sensation ruptured in my abdomen. I looked down to see Varcus’s blade impaling me from behind, like a toothpick through an olive.

The blade retracted, my hot blood sprawled down my legs.

“Malek!” Sunny reached me, taking my arm to brace me against her so I wouldn’t fall over.

“You stay right there!” Varcus warned Lucile. “One step closer and I’ll decapitate him. He’s in too weakened a state to outrun my blade now.”

My strength left me like water down a drain. Sunny propping me up was the only reason I was still standing. She spoke to me, worry bleaching her skin. Her voice muted as my body prioritized vital functions alone in a last-ditch effort to keep me alive.

“Just leave him. He’s as good as dead and every demon in the city, no, the world will be better for it.” Varcus said to Sunny, and she hesitated for a moment.

A war seemed to wave between her beautiful eyes. I knew she didn’t agree with my methods and Varcus’s words played to that.

A chill ran through me further depleting my strength. I wobbled as my legs started to fail.

Seeing my weakness appeared to change something in Sunny.

She cursed Varcus bitterly and he raised his blade. The world grew hazy as the metallic taste of blood soured my mouth. Where I once felt Sunny was now empty space.

She shifted to wolf form and made for Varcus. Her wolf’s powerful hind legs sent her flying, her mighty jaw dawning two rows of incredibly sharp fangs.

With one bite, she took Varcus’s sword and his entire arm.

His knees hit concrete, a look of utter disbelief washing over him.

Pride mounted in me. She was a fearless woman; one I craved to protect and possess. As the sun caught her thick, wild, black and white fur, I knew she would forever be the only being in this world that would never be fully under my control. Maybe that was why I craved her so much.

She spat the bloody arm from her mouth as I toppled over, falling to the ground. The sun stung my eyes as I desperately held onto consciousness. Lucile’s face eclipsed the sun as she frantically tapped her phone.

“Hold on. Sam said the lines were back up. I’m calling an ambulance,” she said.

Evil never dies easily and Varcus was no exception. Like a wounded fox slinking away to his hidey hole, he grabbed his arm and jumped from the roof. I prayed he wouldn’t survive the fall, but the gods never did answer my prayers. This wouldn’t be the last time that vermin crossed my path.

Sunny, now in human form, knelt at my side, caressing my face and comforting me. She shed tears for me, compressing my wound as if her small hands could stop the river-like flow of blood.

She spoke to me but I heard nothing. I watched her beautiful lips move as my head started feeling light as a feather. My pain numbed and a blackout fell upon me.

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