Chapter I:The Demon, Aures

Okimi could do nothing but cry and scream when she saw Aures’s mangled body lying cold on the ground. How could this have happened? She had only left him for a day…Her heart hurt to think about that. She ran to him and fell at his body.

“Aures,” she cried, trying not to touch him. “Aures, what happened?” His eyes slowly opened just enough for Okimi to see his pale blue eyes.

“Okimi.” His voice was hoarse and low from dehydration, and his beautiful silver hair, stained with blood. “Okimi, I…I…” Aures’s head then fell to the side as his words ceased to come. Okimi almost panicked, but then she saw that his chest was still moving. She lay her head on his chest, just to be sure, and heard his slow, soft heartbeat. She shifted her body and lay down beside him, watching his every breath, sobbing hysterically. Tears fell from her eyes as she imagined how he could have got this way. She remembered back as far as she could. Back to when they first met…

~0~

“Why do they send me to do this?” Okimi cursed under her breath as she walked deep into the woods, searching for wild berries for her village. She didn’t understand why they had sent her to do this instead of with her comrades to battle at the Hill. She had been raised by her father to be a warrior, and they all knew of how strong she was.

Okimi’s mother had died when she was only three, and she hardly remembered her at all. She had grown up with two older brothers and her father to raise her, so, naturally, she was not like the other girls in her village. Sure, it was strange for a 16-year-old girl to go into battle, but she thought nothing of it. She loved being in the heat of battle alongside her brothers. Of course, after her father had passed into the spirit world, Okimi had not been allowed to travel with her brothers, and had been made to stay at home with her aunt, Karedoe, and her son.

The sky was growing dark as Okimi traveled further into the forest. She looked around her, trying to find something she recognized, but saw nothing that was familiar to her. “Maybe I should turn back,” she whispered to herself, but when she did turn back, she only got more lost. She cursed out loud, trying to see in the darkening light. Why had she come this far? She should have known better.

She kept walking with her head toward the ground, when she heard something. “Is that…chains?” She walked toward the sound of the rattling chains and the inhuman grunting, afraid of what she might find, but determined to find it.

The noises became louder as she came closer to a large clearing. She stepped in and gasped at what she saw…it was a demon. Spikes protruded from his arms where his long, silvery hair fell. His eyes were a deep crimson color, the color of rage. The chains that bound him were painfully constricting, and he struggled against them. Okimi hid behind one of the gigantic trees, so as not to be seen by him. She watched as he tried and failed many times to break the chains. Then, he jerked his head toward the treetops.

“Come on, now. You know those are unbreakable.” The booming voice startled Okimi as she almost jumped out of her skin. “Why don’t you just give up, you worthless heathen? You knew your end had to come soon.”

“You’re one to talk, you monster,” the bound demon snarled into the air. “There’s no way I’ll ever become anything like you!”

The bodiless voice started laughing a deep, evil laugh. “Hmm, now what would Sadiko think if she saw you like this? I don’t think she’d be very proud now, do you?” The demon’s eyes changed from their red color to a very pale blue at those words, and he hung his head. Okimi wondered who this ‘Sadiko’ was. Maybe it was a friend or something. “That’s what I thought,” the voice boomed once more. “I will be back later. Maybe by then you will have changed your mind.” The wind blew around Okimi, making her shiver and whipping her hair around. When it stopped and everything was still, she looked back at the demon sitting in the clearing. His eyes were still pointed at the ground, and Okimi thought he looked extremely sad.

Okimi took a step from behind the tree and started walking toward the demon. He quickly jerked his head up to look at her. His eyes had turned deep red again and he was growling at her. Although this made her hesitate for an instant, she still kept walking. When he saw this, his face softened and his eyes turned the pale blue color once again. She stopped in front of him and squatted down to his level.

“Well,” she started, looking at the huge spikes on his arms. “Looks like you’ve gotten yourself in big trouble. How did you get like this?” He looked at her for minute, like he was trying to figure something out, but then he replied in a way that almost startled Okimi.

“It’s none of your business!” This reminded Okimi of the reply her young cousin would have given her if she had asked him something. “How would you understand anyways? You’re nothing but a human girl.”

“Humph,” Okimi crossed her arms over her chest, standing up. ‘How dare he! Boy is he ever rude.’ “I guess I won’t know how to help you then either, will I?” She turned her back to him, starting to walk away.

“Wait,” she heard him exclaim before she could leave. She turned to him, questioning him with her eyes. “You could help. Only humans can break these chains. So, I guess…I’m sorry.”

Okimi sighed and walked to him, bending down to the chains. She put her hands on each of his shoulders, grabbing hold of the chains. “All you have to do is pull,” he told her as she started tugging and stretching. She pulled with all her might, almost pulling the demon into her. She closed her eyes in concentration as she felt him pulling in the opposite direction in order to help her and to keep from colliding with her. After what seemed like an hour of pulling and straining, Okimi felt the chains break and disintegrate in her hands. She opened her eyes and smiled at him as he stood up and stretched.

“Ah, that’s much better!” When she stood up beside him, he towered over her as he moved his arms and legs. He stopped and looked down at her, smiling. After a moment he turned his back and started walking out of the clearing. “Thanks,” he yelled back as he left her standing there, awestruck.

‘Wow,’ she thought to herself, watching him leave. ‘What a day this has been. What other strange things are going to happen?’ Okimi stopped and realized something. She ran out into the woods until she could see him walking in the distance. “Wait!” He stopped and turned toward her, raising his eyebrows. She stopped as well, trying to catch her breath. “I - I didn’t get your name.”

“Oh,” he said, smiling at her. “It’s Aures. Aures Shoan.” Then, he turned and walked away from her, leaving her alone. She watched him until she could no longer see him. When he was out of sight, Okimi looked up at the moon, thinking about what had just happened and how the hell she was going to get home.

~0~

Okimi sat in front of the windowsill, looking out at the many stars in the night sky. She was thinking about the man she had saw in the woods. “Aures.” She whispered his name out loud to herself, as her eyelids grew heavy with sleep. She hadn’t realized how tiring her journey into the woods had been. She slowly crawled over to her bed on the floor and lay down in it, snuggling under the covers and getting comfortable. As she lay there, she heard the door open and heard the voices of her brothers in the room next door. She usually would have jumped up right then and ran to them, but she was too tired at the moment. Her eyes slowly closed and she fell into a deep sleep.

That night, she dreamt about the encounter she had had with Aures in the woods. He was standing there in the clearing, smiling at her. “Aures,” she heard him say again.