Dangerous Game

All Ivo remembers of that day is the screams.

They were horrendous. All Ivo could do is watch as those he calls family, those he calls friends, were slaughtered before his eyes. And he was as helpless as a child.

Blood litters the marble covering the streets. Even with his bow in hand and arrow ready to strike, Ivo finds himself unable to nock the arrow and attack the monstrosities destroying Mahorela.

One of them looks at Ivo. One piercing, insane yellow eye. A smirk curls the creature’s lips as it rushes him, fully intent to take Ivo’s life in its claws.

Ivo closes his eyes, ready to die. The sound of cutting wind slams into his ears. When Ivo opens his eyes, he finds that he’s on a roof of one of the buildings that hasn’t yet been set on fire.

How did I–?

“So willing to die you’ll just stand there, hm?”

Ivo turns, clutching the necklace his father gave him so many years ago. The cool metal grounds the mortal as he looks at who saved his life. He looks every bit human, save for the eyes. They were silver, the color of metal, and told stories far beyond the stranger’s apparent age.

Those eyes could stare in the depths of anyone’s soul and get them to spill their darkest, deepest desires, Ivo feels.

A twinge of something lingers in the back of Ivo’s mind. It’s like a memory wanting to be freed. Yet it’s hindered by shadows, so Ivo has little idea of what it is.

“You look...”

“Look?” the stranger asks, waving a hand. “We don’t have all day.”

“It’s nothing,” Ivo murmurs. This man is beyond annoying, despite the mysterious air about him. Despite dealing with an annoying creature, Ivo holds onto hope. He holds onto the faint chance his mother survived this terrible carnage.

Looking back at the creature, Ivo studies him. His appearance isn’t anything remarkable. He adorns a loose fitting shirt that reveals a portion of the lower half of his stomach. His pants aren’t anything interesting either. They’re black, also loose fitting, without any insignia on its surface. Finally, Ivo looks down at his feet, finding he’s not wearing shoes.

There is one thing remarkable about his appearance, and it’s the tattoo resting on his left shoulder.

It’s a crest of sorts. A rose covers the entire inside, with criss crossed swords and bat wings resting on either side of it. Again, Ivo thinks he’s seen it somewhere before, but the memory is once more blocked by something.

After taking in the strange man’s appearance, Ivo takes a moment to study his eyes. They’re cold, distant, without any light. In a strange way, Ivo notices they light up with affection whenever the man gazes upon him. And damn if that wasn’t a confusing thing.

Why would someone Ivo hasn’t met before look at him with affection and a protective tinge? It’s baffling to Ivo. Perhaps this man is from the memory that’s screaming to be freed from its shadow prison? If so, what would have blocked the memory to begin with?

Snapping back to the present, Ivo looks closer at the creature, seeing something from between his lips. The man looks bemused when Ivo gets in his personal space, staring at the stranger’s mouth.

He opens it, seeming to want to satisfy Ivo’s curiosity.

Ivo sees fangs.

Fangs.

The mortal jumps back a few feet, narrowing his eyes. “You’re a demon.”

The word ‘demon’ leaves Ivo’s lips like venom. Demons are everything wrong with this world. They take humans to their realm, using them as toys, both sexually and emotionally. They destroy anything that comes across their path. They kill without remorse and value nothing.

Yet, for some reason, Ivo can’t bring himself to hate this demon. Why? Why would he be so damn special? Demons are evil. Despite that analogy lingering in Ivo’s heart, there’s something warm, something familiar, about this man. Ivo thinks about the memory that wants to be free.

Could the strange demon have something to do with it?

The man places a hand on his hip, staring Ivo down. “I am a demon, yes. A demon who saved your life, might I add.”

“Why? So you could kill me yourself?”

No, that’s not what I want to say.

The demon snorts, shaking his head. “If I wished for you to die, I would have let my companion gut you.”

Fiddling with the chain of the necklace, the coolness serves to ground Ivo. He hates demons. His mother raised him as such. Why, then, is he unable to hate the one before him? The whole thing is bewildering to the mortal.

“Your name is Ivo, is it not?”

Ivo tips his head, eyebrow cocked. “How do you know my name?”

That gets a reaction. The demon looks nervous for a brief moment before it smooths out to his usual indifference. “Many of us carry secrets.”

That’s not what Ivo wants to hear. Letting out a sigh, he rubs his temples. “If you know my name, should I not know yours?”

“Cresil,” Cresil introduces himself. “Although I am surprised you care to know it.”

Ivo huffs, rolling his eyes. “I’ll throw your words back at you - many of us carry secrets.”

Cresil’s lips curl to the tiniest trace of a smile. “You’re a quirky one, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Ivo remarks, and leaves it at that.

Twirling an arrow in his fingers, Ivo looks down at the wreckage. Bodies litter the streets, demons walk through the carnage like they own the place, and what was once a peaceful village now reeks of death and blood. But why would demons attack humans out of nowhere?

Ivo knows little of history, but knows of the Great War. Millions of mortals and less than a hundred demons perished in what was the bloodiest battle in centuries. After realizing humans would soon become extinct if something wasn’t done, the king of Merron Nien offered a treaty with the ruler of Beherit, both realms agreeing to never enter their respective realms without consent from royalty.

Ivo doesn’t know what the mortal king offered the king of Beherit, but it had to be something for the ruler of demons to cease attacking Merron Nien.

Yet that peace is no longer, Ivo realizes.

“Why was the treaty broken?” is all Ivo can ask, looking at Cresil.

Cresil gives a shake of his head, a look of despair crossing his features. “I’m afraid I can’t give you every detail as to why. All I can tell you is this: another Great War is on the horizon.”

“Another Great War?” Ivo’s eyes go wide at that thought. He never thought he’d live to see another war on the scale of the great one. Not that he, or any mortal, wanted to. “I don’t understand. I thought demons couldn’t cross into our realm without consent from royalty. How did one bypass the sacred barrier of Mahila Datu?”

Cresil looks conflicted, like he wants to tell everything, and Ivo wishes he would. He hates being in the dark. Yet the demon once again shakes his head, giving Ivo the barest hint of a smile. “You have no idea how much I wish I could tell you everything. But I cannot, not right at this moment.”

Ivo lets out an annoyed sound. “What’s with people and their secrets? I hate it.”

Cresil reaches towards Ivo, and for a moment, Ivo thinks he’ll touch him. But Cresil retracts his hand at the last second. “I will tell you one day. But that day is not today.”

Ivo sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Fine, keep your secrets. Not like I need to know, right?”

This time Cresil touches Ivo, placing a warm, solid hand on his shoulder. “I apologize, Ivo. I know how hard it is to not know everything that’s transpiring.”

Ivo grinds his teeth, shaking off Cresil’s hand. “It’s fine. I’m used to being left in the dark. I’ve been in the dark my whole life, so this isn’t anything new.”

Cresil’s hand rests at his side, and he looks at Ivo. Once more his gaze looks upon him with light, affection, and protectiveness, but Ivo can’t understand why for the life of him.

“Why do you look at me like that?” Ivo asks, knowing he won’t get an answer, but curiosity winning over that fact.

Cresil’s lips quirk at the question, and Ivo knows that it’ll be yet another mystery to solve, on top of what’s going on already. Ivo isn’t one for solving mysteries, but he assumes he’ll have to pick up that trait if he wants to understand Cresil and his motives.

“Fine, be mysterious,” Ivo grounds out.

Clenching onto the necklace, Ivo has no idea what to make of this situation. Demons are evil. That mantra repeats in his mind over and over. So why, why damn it, can he not hate this particular one? There’s nothing special about him, besides the fact Cresil saved his life.

That could be a reason why Ivo can’t hate him, but it’s not the only one. It’s like his past is telling him that Cresil can be trusted, that he’s the only person Ivo can trust right now. And although Ivo doesn’t want to throw his trust at a demon of all people, Ivo can’t deny the fact there’s someone in the corner of his mind screaming at him that Cresil is worth throwing every ounce of trust Ivo has.

Why? Why are you telling me I can trust him? Mother would never lie to me about demons.

There’s no answer to his inward query, and Ivo sighs. More mysteries that need to be solved.

“Watch out!”

Ivo is snapped out of his thoughts to see a demon in front of him. Raising his arms, Ivo tries his best to defend himself. The sting of pain zings along his nerves as the necklace shatters in his hands, and Ivo feels like a fog has been lifted off his mind.

He’s powerful. He can destroy weak demons.

A sadistic smirk curls his lips as he gathers holy magic in his hands, slamming it into the demon. Ivo watches with amusement as it disintegrates, laughing the whole time.

“Damn it.”

Before Ivo can blink, Cresil is behind him, a hand covering his eyes as magic pulses from his fingers.

“Once your magic runs out, he will be our tool.”

The words leave Ivo’s lips, but it’s not his voice saying them. Beyond being confused, Ivo doesn’t know what’s going on. How did he kill a demon? Why is someone talking through him?

“You’ll never have him,” Cresil snarls, and it’s then Ivo’s world goes dark.

The first thing Ivo registers is the sensation of warmth, security, and comfort.

He has no idea what’s going on or what’s happened. He knows he killed a demon, and that there was some strange person - or creature? - talking through him, but beyond that, Ivo has little clue of what’s transpired.

The mortal remembers that Cresil used his magic to seal away whatever took over Ivo’s body and mind. But what exactly did take over his soul? And why would it do so only when the necklace was destroyed? Ivo has a million questions, but finds himself not able to answer a single one of them.

It’s frustrating.

Groaning, he opens his eyes, retinas burning with the sun. A hand covers his eyes, and once they adjust, Ivo looks at who’s holding him.

It’s Cresil.

“What...” is all Ivo can muster as he struggles to sit up. Cresil helps him, and the demon looks at Ivo with the same protective edge in his eyes, except this time it’s increased tenfold.

“The people who possessed you are the true harbingers of this war,” Cresil answers Ivo’s unspoken question. “But I will not allow them to use you for their own gain.”

“Why would they use me? I’m a human,” Ivo questions, confused.

“That’s a tale for another day,” Cresil replies, helping Ivo stand.

Wobbly on his feet, Ivo plunges forward, and Cresil catches him at the last second. There’s no desire to continue the touch or remain close to one another, but Ivo can’t deny there’s something strange going on between him and Cresil.

“Thanks.”

“It’s alright.”

Noticing they’re by his mentor’s home, Ivo sees a glittering bow nearby. He plucks it off the ground, feeling a strange hum of power through his nerves. It’s the same as when he was possessed, except he doesn’t feel like this particular power will do the same.

“I found that before the house collapsed,” Cresil explains. “And this dog as well.”

Ivo looks over, seeing Accalia sitting near Cresil, yellow eyes glimmering. A smile lingers on Ivo’s features as he reaches for Charlotte’s companion. Accalia barks, wandering towards and resting her snout on Ivo’s shoulder.

“Hey, girl.” Ivo embraces Accalia. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

Accalia whines, nuzzling her nose against Ivo’s shirt, making him laugh and hold her tighter.

“She’s a familiar,” Cresil says, and Ivo looks at him with confusion. “She bound herself to whomever owned that house. And now she’s yours.”

“Mine?” Ivo looks at Accalia, who looks like she’s almost grinning at him. “How is she mine?”

“It’s odd for familiars to bind themselves to more than one person, but when their previous master dies, they can, at times, bound themselves to another. And that’s exactly what she did.”

“Dies? So Charlotte is gone.” Ivo bites his lip, but further words cease when demons surround the three.

“Ah, so you have sided with the weaklings, have you?” one of them sneers, and Cresil bares his fangs, summoning his weapon, a lance of sorts. Accalia growls, standing in front of Ivo, and Ivo wishes he could do something to help them fight.

He’d just get in the way. Ivo knows that. So he moves off, letting Cresil and Accalia do the fighting.

“Aw, he’s running away! We won’t let you. Get him!”

Ivo hasn’t seen Cresil fight until now, but seeing the fierce way he doesn’t let a single demon approach him, Ivo can’t help but feel glad the man is on their side. And watching Accalia tear the heads off any demons Cresil spares, Ivo realizes the familiar is just as strong an ally as Cresil is.

Once all but one remain, Cresil places his lance next to the demon’s head. “Any last words before I end your pathetic existence?”

“You will not win, Your Majesty. We will defeat you, just watch!”

Scoffing, Cresil silences the rest of the demon’s words by slicing its head off, then walks towards Ivo, giving him a little smile. “You’re safe now.”

“Your Majesty?” Ivo parrots, eyes wide. “Why would it call you that?”

Cresil makes his lance disappear, a sigh floating off his lips. “I suppose it would have come out sooner or later.”

Accalia moves towards Ivo’s side, planting herself next to him. Ivo looks at Cresil, waiting for an explanation, and Cresil sighs.

“I rule over the demons as King of Beherit.”