...THOSE WHO ARE ARROGANT ARE OFTEN CARELESS...
~CAIN~
"We're here," White said and parked the car.
I puffed out my feathers and slowly opened my eyes. I readjusted to my surroundings. Not long after we had left the academy, I had fallen asleep on the backrest of the driver's seat. I never intended to, but the car's gentle rocking on the gravel path, winding around the Ruth Mountain range, had lulled me asleep.
It's been six months since I last closed my eyes to rest. I spent every waking hour on Layer 365 to track Claudiseus down. He was so well hidden, in fact, that it took months to catch even a glimpse of Sage.
It wasn't on any map, and it kept blinking in and out of existence every few hours. Like it was slipping into another layer. It was isolated and hard to find, much less enter, and I had spent years' worth of energy clawing my way inside.
At first, I assumed that Kade created that bubble to protect himself, but after giving it some thought, it seems more likely that he created it to protect his daughter. She was in possession of my Daemun. It only made sense that he would isolate her from the world.
I shook my head and feathers until I transformed into a puffy black ball. A few hours of rest were more than enough for me, and I had spent decades training myself to be alert even when my eyes were closed.
Having many enemies, either after my head or my heart, meant that I had to sleep with one eye open. Sleep was for the dead anyway.
Glancing at the time displayed on the small monitor behind the steering wheel, I realized that three hours had passed between the present and the time I had first closed my eyes. It was nighttime, and the sun had set about an hour earlier.
I turned my head to have a look around. I expected a view of tall ash-wood trees towering over dimly lit buildings, but instead, I was met with a blanket of thick white fog pressing up against the windows. The headlights were on, illuminating the white cloud around the car. Visibility was so poor that I could barely make out the ghost of a tall grey wall in the distance.
"Had a nice nap?" White asked and pressed his thumb down to release his seat belt. It clicked free and slowly snaked over his chest and returned to its original position.
"Hmm," I hummed sleepily.
He raised his left hand and held it over his shoulder, palm facing up, and waited for me to step onto his fingers. His hands were cold, and he pressed his palms gently against my sides, squishing my wings against my body.
Softly, he stroked the top of my head with his thumb and held me out in front of him. He looked at me with a soft expression on his face.
'Seems he's had time to digest his thoughts.'
"White," I said and stared deeply into his blue-green eyes. "We've had no contact."
"I didn't ask…"
"Didn't have to. It's written all over your face."
He glanced down into his lap. "Then, what are your thoughts on his daughter?" he asked.
"She looks nothing like them. Pale brown eyes like polished amber, hair like sunlight tangled into curls. She seems strong-willed, unafraid to speak her mind, and very confident. On the surface, she seems alright, but beyond that, I cannot yet judge her."
White nodded, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. "How old did you say she was?"
"Fifteen. She should turn sixteen in a month, though I don't know the precise day."
His tone darkened. "Then time is against us. If the Elders summon her to Sigrid, and she cannot conceal him, she will be exposed. That alone could lead to her death. And you know how protective he is—"
"You're wrong, White." I cut him short. "They are not the danger here. Maeve is."
His brows drew tight. "Maeve?"
"Yes." I leaned back into his hand, forcing my voice steady. "Daemun rarely mark a host, and when they do, they do not share. Claudiseus hides within her core, bound to her already. But Maeve also seeks to claim her. Neither will yield. And why would they? She is unlike any Maji I've ever seen. Her crystal count is unnatural. Too vast. Too many. Enough to carry both of them, enough to tempt them beyond reason. What I sensed dormant inside that girl, was a mana core thrice as large as her father's."
White paled.
"Even if Maeve yields and allows Claudiseus to claim her, it will not end there. Others will come. She is too rare, too tempting. And if they fight for her…" My beady black eyes stared intently at White. "She will be torn apart from the inside. One must submit, or both must agree to share her. But you know as well as I do, that Daemun do not share."
White's expression hardened, though his voice came out low, almost reverent. "Then… a war is already happening inside that girl." He set me down on the passenger seat, careful with his words. "Have you told the princes?"
"Not yet." My tone carried finality. "Healing her came first. And I saw an opportunity to let Reed face what he has long avoided. So, I gave him the task of mending her. Better he bleed old wounds in service of her recovery than let them rot in silence."
"You sure care a lot for your princelings," White said and sighed.
'Of course I do.'
After a long minute of silence, I closed my eyes and released my held form. My tiny body began to melt away and change. The clothes I had been wearing before turning into a raven had burned up during the transformation. I was fully naked, now that I was assuming the body of a human.
My breast swelled, my waistline thinned, and my ass rounded. I had my usual golden eyes, short, tipped ears, and a dark brown pixie cut hairstyle. I resembled my male counterpart enough to be considered as its twin. I even had the two precious dimples on the sides of my face.
White stared at my chest. Not at my breasts or pinkish nipples, but at the ink dancing underneath my skin below my right collarbone. It was Rivian's mark. A physical representation of the bond that tied us together.
His mark consisted of three rings of fire resembling cogs. The largest one was in the middle, a smaller one below it, slightly towards the left, and the smallest of the three above the rest, more towards the right. They moved and flicked like flames swirling under my skin.
Rivian had my mark on his left arm, only his flame tattoo wrapped around his arm like a tightly bound bandage and peeked over his collarbone. Like mine, it was constantly moving under his skin.
"Have you seen him recently?" White asked softly, referring to Rivian.
"Briefly. When I dropped off Kiera."
"Reed tells me he's been sleeping in the forest most nights. Why are you avoiding him?"
"Avoiding him? You're reading too much into things, White. I'm doing nothing of the sort," I snorted, annoyed at the accusation.
"He's not the type to brood over nothing. Something happened between you two at Reed's party. Something you're not telling me. You left in a hurry and didn't say goodbye. Just disappeared for three weeks."
"Yes, well, Staz ordered me to leave without telling the others. I had no choice. He had a vision."
"Ah, so that's what happened. I thought you had a fight with Rivian…"
"I have some clothes in the back," I said and turned in my seat. The change in subject was forced, but thankfully, White let it go. Rivian was fine. I was fine. We were fine. Nothing happened. Nothing I openly wanted to share with White, anyway. Rivian kissed me at Reed's party, but that was not why I left. And if I had not been so rudely interrupted, I would have done more than just kissing him back.
I opened the car door and stepped outside. The thick fog brushed against my bare skin. It was a powerful barrier spell, much stronger than the barrier at Arcane Academy. The more mana it siphoned from my crystals, the thicker it became, and the more it dulled my senses. I had to hurry before it knocked me unconscious.
I moved to the back of the car, hooked my fingers under the trunk, and fingered for the button to pop it open. I could barely see my hands right in front of me, much less the rest of my naked figure. I found the button. Mel was still stuffed inside, but I ignored him and reached for a backpack. I pulled it closer and freed a few bone masks and some extra clothes.
I hurriedly dressed in a pair of black jeans and a matching T-shirt with four green stripes on the left sleeve. I always packed extra clothes for Rivian, in case he burned off his uniform when he was practicing a few fire spells. I shoved my feet into his uncomfortable pair of Converse and hurriedly tied the laces to stay out of my way.
I bit my thumb and smeared a splotch of silver blood over the summoning insignia on the underside of the bone mask. I tossed it over my shoulder and let it disappear into the fog.
The insignia belonged to Maeve. It was his name, written in Drengr'vere.
N'Maeyes Maevyrnn Demicaux.
His ghostly black body materialized underneath the mask and mixed in with the white fog around us. Had it not been for his red eyes, I wouldn't have known that he was there. He was tall. Standing face to face with me, the height and size of a small horse. He got bigger. No longer being 1.80m tall, but now being 1.99m tall, nearing two meters.
"Hey, Maeve," I greeted him, my tone lighter than it had been all night.
"Maeve greets the Prince of Darkness," he murmured, voice carrying that strange formality he never let go of.
"You're still calling me that?" I asked, shaking my head with a quiet smile.
"Cain still calls him the King of Dreams…" he countered, and a hint of amusement slipped through the flat cadence of his words.
I chuckled and reached out, running my hand over his head in a way that was half comfort, half habit.
"Sorry for pulling you away," I said.
"He does not mind," Maeve replied. His gaze lingered on me, calm and steady. "What can he do for Cain?"
"How are you feeling?" I asked, slinging the backpack over my shoulder.
"He welcomes the idea of sharing the details," Maeve replied, his words fractured by that grotesque undertone of a monstrous bass threaded with sharp clicks. "Yet he is reluctant. Too many ears are present."
"It's only White," I said, keeping my gaze steady on his three red eyes. "No one else here matters."
Maeve shifted, unease rolling off him. "Others linger. Maji. They are watching. Listening. Maeve is concerned. Cain does not notice the woman standing at his side."
I did notice her. It was just that I was deliberately ignoring her…
I turned my head and locked eyes with the headmistress of Rayhaven Academy. Valere Flamesworth. Her hair was as orange as the fruit itself, and her eyes were brown. Her lips were painted red with lipstick, and a smile lit up her face.
Though she looked the same age as Vera Flamesworth, she was a few hundred years older than her sister, and the two of them were incompatible.
"You're late, Cain," she purred. "Come inside."
"As much as I'd love to plow balls deep into your fertile fields, Valere, now is not the time," I flirtatiously said and grabbed hold of Meldora's leg. I plucked him outside of the trunk and heard his body connect with the soil.
Maeve, uncomfortable with people, slipped into my shadow and disappeared.
"That filthy mouth of yours," the headmistress said and shook her head.
"You used to love this filthy pothole. Stuck your tongue deep into my throat as if you were trying to lick your way into my heart," I said and smirked.
"That was over two hundred years ago, Cain."
"Yes, and I was very close to forgetting."
"So, who is that?" Valere referred to Mel.
"Ah, he's my body pillow. Just ignore him," I said and followed her to the ghostly building in the distance.
I glanced behind me at White. He was following me closely. I felt a bump of a step underneath my foot and motioned to the man that he had to tread carefully. He just nodded without a word.
"So, when did you get the creepy fog?"
"It was Kade's gift. Before he… you know..." she trailed off.
'Before he committed high treason by not only stealing my familiar but killing innocents and starting the war. Blah blah blah. I get it.'
"Hmm, I hate how jealous it makes me to hear that," I said and glanced at the massive castle gate, which opened just wide enough for us to slip inside.
It was the entrance to the academy's courtyard. One of my many cousins built the keep hundreds of years ago for his Carter. After their deaths, it's been left behind and was but a distant memory. Four hundred years ago, it was repurposed as a small academy for young and gifted women from the Maji kingdom. A place to safely study magic under the protection of the Cains.
Hundreds of students and professors were strewn about. The fog didn't cross over the wall, and the courtyard air was clear. Some girls were discussing boys, others were gossiping to their friends about whatever nonsense kept their interest, and most were turned to eye the intruders.
Unlike Arcane Academy, the students at Rayhaven were dressed in white buttoned-up shirts with long sleeves. Large, colored bowties represented each student's exact coloration of mana. A simple yet plain black school skirt was worn over their white shirts, stretching down to their knees. They wore see-through black stockings and short, heeled shoes.
Our students attended class during the day, while the girls at Rayhaven Academy attended class during the evenings. There were no male students. Rayhaven Academy was an institute strictly for female Maji, and all the boys came to our academy instead. Our sister school didn't even accept girls from other races, which meant that they had no other option but to enroll at Arcane Academy, where magic wasn't the sole focus of their studies.
"Who is that short-eared Fae?" a girl asked a few steps away.
Being mistaken for an elf slightly annoyed me, but it was a common mistake. My ears were short and slightly tipped, giving me the appearance of a half-elf. But I wasn't from the Empire. I was a Yavari. I smiled and winked in the girl's direction. Her face turned a shade of pink, and she turned her head away to lock eyes with her friend.
"A new professor, maybe?" suggested her friend. Both had peach-colored bow ties.
"Who is that she's dragging behind her? Is he dead?" another Maji asked, she had a mint green bow tie.
"Cain, there is spilled blood nearby. Fresh. Another attack. He hopes Cain will be careful. He thinks Daenoi is responsible. It is coming from the fog. Somewhere north-east," I heard Maeve say below me.
White, being close by, overheard him and turned pale at the news.
Daenoi were children of night, birthed not from Sorein's darkness but from the voids of Nu'en, the goddess of the abyss. They were the Daemun's ancient rivals, sworn enemies born of a different night. Countless breeds of them roamed the Layers: harpies, gargoyles, succubae, fiends, gorgons, vampires, imps, and more, each shaped by Nu'en's fractured shadow.
Unlike Daemun, the Daenoi were incomplete. They carried no crystals and wielded no magic. Death bound them as it did mortals. Yet what they lacked in sorcery, they made up for in speed and strength, every movement honed for predation. They were swift, ruthless, and far stronger than any human, a reminder that not all monsters needed mana to be feared.
"Bis Drengr," I muttered under my breath. The headmistress turned her head in my direction, wondering what had upset me enough to curse the gods. "Someone was just taken. No time to explain. I'm going after them. Take my luggage up to my room!" I tossed Mel into her arms and threw my backpack down at her feet.
I ran off without waiting for them to respond. White followed me, but I wordlessly stopped him with a glowing yellow glare. I couldn't fight while worrying about his safety.
Like his brother, White used to be affiliated with earth and air magic, but he was no longer able to release any mana or cast any spells. Kade had shattered every crystal in White's body.
"Maeve, which kind?" I yelled, running out into the fog.
"Half-lings," he responded.
"Fuck me, how many? Can you tell?"
"Too far away. Ride him. He will carry Cain to the scent," Maeve said and materialized underneath me. I grabbed onto a fistful of his long black fur and steadied myself on his back.
He bolted into the blanket of thick white fog and zig-zagged through the trees and underbrush of the forest.
He ran fast, and a minute later, I began to smell the blood as well. It smelled like it was coming from every direction.
Maeve, being a Daemun designed for hunting and tracking, could better discern its direction. He snarled and lunged at something.
"Woah, Maeve. We need information. Just take us nearby," I spoke to him softly, not wanting to be heard.
"Unfortunately, Cain, they already know of his whereabouts," he responded.
"So nice of you to join us for dinner," a female voice said behind us.
Maeve swung around and lunged forward, but there was nothing there. He snarled and turned around again, circling whatever was in the fog.
His head kept moving, indicating that the Daenoi didn't stay in one place for too long. Maeve began to click, using it to see his surroundings and to try and affect the half-lings most likely surrounding us.
"Demicaux," the female said, this time coming from our right. "Come here. You do not belong underneath that Cain."
"Silence!" Maeve roared, sounding like rumbling thunder. I stroked his side and leaned down, flattening myself on his body. I held on tightly as he began swiping at nothing. "Daenoi, its cowardice brings nothing but shame to all Daemun."
"So says a summoned slave forced to carry his master on his back," the female voice retorted, now coming from above us. Her voice was as smooth and sweet as honey, and yet at the same time vile and unnatural.
She sounded like a different person each time she spoke, indicating that she was masking her identity.
"Maeve. How many are out there? I can't see anything."
He growled softly and huffed out a breath. The fog moved away from his face for a second before covering it up again. Looking down, I could no longer see his body. I could only feel it.
"Too many. Entire coven. Different Daenoi. Not all halflings," he said and glanced at something next to us. His body moved again, and he circled carefully around a few trees.
"Maji?"
"Six. Unconscious. Not too far away."
Something heavy smacked into Maeve, and his body turned to ash underneath me. It happened too fast. Whatever it was, it tackled me to the ground and pinned me down into a bed of dried leaves.
'Well, fuck, this is bad.'
I shoved the thing off me. Its body was white and giant. It was a Fero. A large bipedal Daemun standing over two meters tall with large horns growing out of its head. Its cat-like body was swift and agile even when the thing was built like a truck, having the head of a tiger and a bulky body with thick hide and silky soft fur. But this Daemun was hairless, sickly, and ugly. I only got a glimpse of it before it disappeared back into the fog.
I lowered myself into a defensive position. Feet spread apart, hands raised out in front of me, knees bent, eyes focused, and ears honed on even the slightest bit of sound.
"Et hibi," the faceless Daenoi ordered.
Hands grabbed at my limbs. Fiends. They were like vampires, but much more zombie-like in appearance, having pale white skin flaking off their gaunt and malnourished bodies. They were hairless and resembled skeletons with thin skin and red eyes. Fiends were what humans turned into when they were bitten by vampires.
I yanked myself free and kicked the fog, only to hit nothing. My legs shook, weakening from the strain of losing mana. It was a lot like losing blood. I didn't have much time left. I would faint soon, and the Daemun would drag me off to Henry or sell me to someone else.
'Fuck. Me. Sideways… Hard and without lube.'
I bolted in a random direction, unable to tell where I was really headed. Those things chased after me, hissing and snarling. I didn't make it very far. I tripped over a tree's exposed root and landed on my stomach.
The fiends piled on top of me and dug their claws and teeth into the back of my legs and arms. Some even went for my neck.
'This fucking fog…'
I kicked the Daenoi off me and got back on my feet. My silver blood was oozing out of countless wounds, and my legs were shaking and wobbling violently.
I was at a serious disadvantage. The fog was fucking me over and the Daenoi were completely unaffected because they didn't have any mana to begin with.
I spent too much energy finding Claudiseus and getting him out of that bubble. Fuck. This is exactly why I wanted to rest for a few days! Curse those bastard Six.
I dropped down onto my knees and hurriedly dug Maeve's mark into the leaves and soil. I kept it small, just so I could complete it in a hurry.
I bit my tongue and spat my blood all over the finger-deep markings in the soil. Having no mask meant that I had to summon him the old-fashioned way.
"No, stop him!" that female Daenoi hissed, but it was too late. I finished.
"Come out Maeve!" I screamed just as I was tackled back down. The Daenoi piled on top of me again and began to rip me to shreds.
Maeve roared to life and re-materialized in the fog. This time, they couldn't break his mask and send him back to the nether. They would have to target his crystal directly and kill him for good. But Maeve was much stronger in the flesh.
He lunged at the Daenoi on top of me and began to tear into their numbers.
Screams filled the air, and I smiled from ear to ear. I enjoyed the sounds of carnage, but was a little bitter that I couldn't visually appreciate it.
A Daemun appeared above me. It hovered in the air, and its transparent tentacles slithered around underneath it. Half its body was covered underneath a dark purple cloak.
"You're already fading, Cain, but this won't keep you down for long," it said. Its female voice spoke only half of the sentence before it changed into that of a man talking in a hushed and whispering voice.
It was a Drathir. A Daemun named after the void. A humanoid Daemun, three meters tall, with a translucent black body. It had a human-like torso. Its arms and legs were tentacles far too long to be in proportion with the rest of its body. It had two large, beady black eyes, a flat nose, thin lips, and an extremely gaunt-looking face, with six or more tentacles on its head.
The Daemun raised them up into the air, making them resemble horns or antennae. I blinked, not trusting my eyes. The Drathir wasn't supposed to be on Layer 86. It was a Daemun exclusive to Layer 3.
It hovered above me, floating slightly above my body, and slowly lowered its tentacles to touch me. It wrapped its slithery translucent arms around my neck and squeezed the living daylights out of me.
Then, as everything went dark, it shoved a tentacle into my chest and pierced Rivian's mark.