Page 1 of Devil's Doom

First

She was my first in so many ways.

My first real challenge. My first blood addiction. My first true fear.

She’s the first mortal in a very long time that’s more than entertainment. She has potential, and I am surprised to discover how much hope I still have for the human race. All thanks to her.

She is the first woman I was afraid to fuck, because fucking her meant so much more than doing it with others. After a long, disenchanted life, I didn’t expect a person to get so deep under my skin.

When I began dreaming about being with her, touching her, holding her, and easing her pain, I knew she had claimed an important piece of me. But at that point, I couldn’t stop it.

I had to take her, and it was no chore. When it happened, it was everything I imagined and more, and I hate her for it. How dare she make me feel like this?

She is the first woman I want to bear my children. Not for spite. Not out of envy.

But to share them with her. To see what kind of magic the two of us can make.

Finally, she is the first person I see myself being with. Not just for a time. Not just to sate a temporary need for another. I will want her for centuries to come.

And now that she’s gone, I want her more than ever.

Chapter one

Apple

Here I am again, running for my life through the woods. I gasp out little puffs of terror with every breath. There are no sounds of pursuit. Woland’s roars quieted hours ago, and still, I lurch ahead on unsteady feet, pushing through tall, rustling ferns. My arms hurt from holding out in front of me, but I don’t dare lower them.

I’ve already walked into a tree twice. The darkness of Slawa’s woods is thicker, furrier than the one back home, even though its stars shine brighter. Walking under the robust canopies, I’m practically blind.

My bare feet bleed, as do numerous cuts and gashes on my legs and arms. There’s a nasty wound on my thigh, my skin torn by a ragged branch I failed to see. That’s part of the reason why I keep going. With blood trailing in my wake, I must be easy prey, if not for Woland, then for other bloodthirsty predators.

The other reason is that I’m too terrified to stop. I don’t know these woods. Whatever evil lurks here, it’s a thousand times worse than the animals I knew to beware of back in the mortal world. Wolves and bears were dangerous, of course, but at least I recognized them and knew how to flee. There’s no telling what might attack me here, so I plow through the alien foliage in the feeble hope that I might find my way out of the trees.

I don’t hope to find a settlement. There isn’t a friendly face in this world that I can count on to help me. What I long for is a meadow or a clearing. Something with fewer shadows and more starlight, where I can see the danger coming.

A strange, half-choked call comes from afar. I freeze, pressing my filthy, blood-crusted palms to my mouth to hold back a sob. Silence falls, and still I don’t dare breathe, my body shivering from exhaustion and the cold.

Summer is almost over. My naked skin gives me no protection from the chilly bite.

Another sound comes in, a faint rustle in the canopy above me. I press my hands tighter to my face, taking small, shallow breaths as the pit of my stomach hollows with dread.

What could it be? Back home, I’d expect a bird, but here? A licho or another type of bies could very well be in the tree, watching me—a hapless mortal stinking of blood and fear. Maybe it’s a zmij, a serpent with eagle wings and lethal venom dripping from its fangs.

When the sound doesn’t repeat, I stumble ahead, up a gentle hill. The lush-canopied oaks and thick-trunked beeches give way to slimmer, taller pines. Stars shine through between the treetops, lighting my way just enough to avoid the worst obstacles. I lower my arms with a shaky exhale of relief and climb, my jaw clenched.

In the past month, I’ve wandered the woods, but it was leisurely and apathetic. It didn't prepare me for this. My malnourished body screams in protest as I push it past its limits, my shrunken muscles trembling from the effort.

Soon, exhaustion wraps around me like a cloak, and my fear grows nebulous and distant, as if it’s someone else’s emotion. I walk on without a thought, my mind dazed and empty. When a longing howl comes from afar, carrying in the crystal air, I stumble and blink.

Then I resume walking, my mind churning an idle thought like it’s a riddle it wants to solve.There are wolves here. Or maybe werewolves. Did it sound like Przemyslaw?

I don’t know how long I walk in that stupor. The darkness shifts, growing fuzzier and then clearer, making me hope for a quick dawn.

But does the sun shine in Slawa? Does Dadzbog cross this sky just like he does the mortal one? Will Jutrzenka open the doors for him so a new day can rise?

Or is this land so different from home that even the very nature of day and night is foreign?

I am so defenseless, I can’t even count on my knowledge of the world to aid me. All I have is my magic, but I haven’t tested its limits yet. I know almost nothing about my power. I don’t even feel it anymore.

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