I was told we would be staying in a strange land for a month. I was just a little girl. I had nothing going on other than my life in Duldat. My father told me I was supposed to meet a special person. I didn’t want to go.
Standing in front of a young boy, no older than nine, speaking like a grown-up. When I stared at him, he stood firm and steady while talking to his father and mine. The words “marriage” being thrown around between them, I stood scared as my dad clutched his fingers on my shoulders. Although I was frightened, I couldn’t help but stare at the white of his hair. The color pulled me into some trance that I couldn’t look away.
“You want me to leave Heistorm and live in the Kingdom of Duldat with the Eliska’s?” The boy wasn’t pleased. No matter how attractive he was, no matter how immersed I felt in the unique color of his hair, his face in the moments of silence was when he looked terrifying. Clutching to my father, I hid my face, trying to avert my eyes before he noticed.
“Tia, darling, are you still afraid?” My father gently spoke to me. I knew I was gaining everyone’s attention by how I was acting. I didn’t mean to stand out; I wanted to go home. I tried not to be around strangers in a foreign land. “I-I want to go home.” I was shaking, tears welling up in my eyes. Stop it. Stop it right now, crybaby…
“If we are done here, I must return to my room, Father,” the young boy said with a stern voice. “Trying to escape again?” His father responded with a sigh. “I won’t leave until I turn fourteen, correct? Well, let me enjoy the rest of my time at home as much as possible. I know my life is yours to decide.” I peeked to look at the boy. He turned around and began to walk away from the conversation, but the moment he did, he gave me a particular look. My eyes widened. Was he sucking up to his father for my sake? Did he realize how discomforting I was? Why? Why did he have to do that for me? I saw the disappointment across his face; it was sad. I stopped crying and feeling sad at that exact moment. I wasn’t the only one who felt uncomfortable with everything…
*
Walking away from Father, I ran to my room and slammed the door shut. “Damn it!!!” With a heavy huff, my face was red with anger. “Why!” I screamed into my bed. I can’t believe I was throwing a tantrum. I guess I really am a child…
I stayed in my room for the rest of the day. Trying to forget about my future. I remained focused on reading my books and using the strategy games available at my disposal.
It slowly became dusk. Celia tried to talk to me, but I wasn’t in the mood.
So, I began to read some history books about Duldat and the Kingdom. Reading for hours, I found some interesting pieces about the wars and the long line of elves they had. I turned some pages and flipped to a specific topic.
“The curse of Nix”…
The candlelight in the room flickered at the mere mention of Nix. It was a word I was all too familiar with. I wanted to avoid the topic, but knowing it would be a bigger problem when I am in Duldat… I pressed on in the history that was sewn into my own genetics.
“The children of Nix are the direct descendants of Nix and his children. Once revered as a beautiful elven lord, Nix was the twin brother of Shino, the first Demon King to rise in the world of Folis. Because they shared the same face, the same hair color, and the same fate, Nix and his children were prosecuted out by their own people. They feared Nix or any of his children would aid Shino and become the next line of Demon Kings. It’s been thousands of years since Shino and Nix. To this day, a shared trait of anyone with the blood of Nix is that they all share the same distinct hair color. Anyone who bears the cold burn of white hair is a true Nixx.”
Leaving the book on the desk, I slowly turn to look at my reflection. The striking white locks of hair flow steadily by the slow breeze of the open window. Vivid images of my mother flash into my mind…
“You were so beautiful, mother…”
Returning to my desk, I kept reading on.
“Other than the hair, to know the curse within a Nixx is a direct descendant of their founder is the golden hue of the iris—a rare trait to have as well as an omen. A child born of the curse with both hair and eyes is a sign that a Demon King’s return is imminent. The cursed are fated to become the Demon King lords and lead his armies against the Kingdoms of man and monster.”
My eyes blink for a bit—a cold sweat. Lips dry—heavy breathing.
Frantically, I kept reading the same paragraph repeatedly, ensuring I didn’t read it wrong. But I didn’t.
“Mother’s eyes were yellow…her hair white like the day she died…” Knocking over my chair, I quickly lean out the window to vomit. My heart was pounding in my chest…
The bright moon shone bright in the clear, dark sky. I grip the wooden beam of the window as I hang my head low.
“Curse this… Curse that… Demon King, this… Demon King that…” I gripped the beam harder to the point that bruises were forming on the palms of my hands. I felt incredible hatred for myself and the blood in my veins.
Pushing away from the window, I grip my hands tightly as I hold in my cries of anguish. My right hand slowly went numb. The feeling traveled up my arm and I released my grip to stop the feeling. It didn’t stop. The numbness kept moving up my arm. Soon, my hand was void of any emotion.
I opened my eyes instantly, and the moment that I had to look, a blue spark of light popped from my hand and arm. The tingling sensation that was moving in my arm quickly turned into a sharp pain.
“It hurts…!” I leaned back and lifted my hand up as a giant spark of lightning shot from my hand out through the window, into the night sky. Laid on my back on my bed, I gripped my arm as the numbing sensation began to fade. The pain lingered longer than I wanted it to, but I couldn’t think about it.
“Hahahah…. Hahahah…. Hahahahahahaha…!” I covered my eyes with my hand. The laughter escaping my lips was not of joy but of irony.
“Today isn’t my day…” The words slipped out of my mouth. You would think that if someone had just discovered that they shot out magic from their hand, it would be a prideful moment. However, the sad reality is that my life really was cursed.
Magic in this world is the biggest sin that anyone can commit. The idea that magic is so evil goes back thousands of years. Yes, all the way back. Just like Nix, Shino had his own curse on his children and those directly related to the Demon King. And that curse was magic. Shino became the first creature to use magic. The first spell he cast burned the man he called father. Ascending him to his rise as Demon King. There have been multiple Demon Kings in our history. Each one is not related to the last, but the curse of Shino reawakens in every single descendent of the Demon Kings and their lords.
“The curse of Nix and Shino all in one package… What a joke…” The dim candlelight in my room dies out with the last of waking breath. I curl up on the bed to rest—a blue bruise formed on my right hand due to the blowback of using magic.
The morning begins with me waking up to a sudden knock on the door.
“Master Caleb? It’s Milia…” Her voice sounds worried.
“You may enter Milia.”
Click
The sound of the door turning and opening rings in my head as the young beast woman maid enters with a soft presence. She turns to look at me with her soft yellow feline eyes. Her short brown hair matches the big cat ears sticking past her hair. She moves her slender body next to me and sits next to me.
“Lord Aris is hosting a party in the Eliska’s honor. He wants you to attend.” She clasps her hand in mine.
Milia has always been there for me on a personal level regarding my situation. Like Celia, she was a slave as a little girl before my father bought her to take care of me just after taking me in. I figured he didn’t want to be bothered to look after his own son, but it was just he could never have the time since my mother was already dead.
“I’ll go…”
“Good, maybe we should-…Wait!” Milia’s ears perked up, and her eyes widened.
“You’ll go?!” Her ears twitched in excitement.
“Don’t make it such a big deal. I figured he was going to force me anyway. Might as well attend on my terms.” I sigh and turn away from Milia.
“So exciting! Oh, I know the perfect look!” She flips over my bed, quickly opens my closet, and promptly picks through the clothes. I look at her and chuckle. After yesterday and last night, I was just done with everything. If my life was going to hell, I might as well let loose.
