Chapter One: A Demon in the Night

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“Because you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!”

“What else?” Elise asked.

Gunter paused, not expecting the question. “Well. You’re very nice. You understand the world the way I do, you know what I mean.”

Elise nodded. She really didn’t like this man, and right now she was wishing he would leave. After announcing that he had come to meet and potentially marry her, her extended family allowed him to stay in their mansion where they all lived. It resembled a castle more than anything else, so there were always spare rooms somewhere.

Elise still didn’t understand what he really wanted.

“You are also a powerful Sorceress,” he added.

Elise slowly smiled. I was wondering if he would take it there, she thought.

“Really,” Elise murmured, reaching to the neckline of her dress for a chain she wore. “You find that attractive?”

“Of course! You are a very interesting woman, Elise.” He looked assured that he’d given the right answer.

Holding her silver pendant in her hand, she twisted at it and it came apart into two pieces: a sheath and a dagger. The dagger was beautifully made, and her name was carved in ornate lettering down the side. Gunter paled.

“I didn’t know you were a fan.” Elise said slyly. “Do you want to know how it works?”

Gunter gaped at her. “Uh, I don’t know.”

“Don’t be shy! You said I was interesting, you must be fascinated.” Taking the sharp tip of her dagger Elise made a shallow cut on her forearm, which bled sluggishly. The rest of her arm was already covered in scars. “Blood is life, and when you bleed, a small amount of life force escapes. If you’re like my family you attract this force like a magnet. It comes to me. I can use it for anything I’d like.”

The table was shaking slightly. Their dinner for two was rattling on its plates, and the candles were close to toppling over. Gunter leapt back, knocking his chair over in the process. He looked terrified.

“Oh, don’t worry,” She told him, “If we got married, I promise not to cut you.” On the word ‘cut’, their wine glasses exploded. The glass shards only fell to the table, but the red wine sprayed across his white shirt like a blood stain. Gunter sprinted from the room, and didn’t look back.

Elise sat for a couple seconds. The door clicked back open, and her sister leaned in, raising an eyebrow. “That was fast.”

“Would you like some veal? Or chocolate mousse? He’s odd, but his cooking is divine.”

“Let me get this straight— He cooked dinner for you, and you blew it up in his face?” Angela asked.

“It looks that way, doesn’t it? I’m not seeing a future for us. He’s too… skittish.”

Angela laughed. Elise glanced back at the table, and the shards of glass flew back together. She promptly poured more wine. Angela took Gunter’s vacated seat, and they enjoyed the meal.

That was all they heard from Gunter until early in the morning a few short days later.

Elise didn’t sleep well sometimes, and it was late when she finally fell asleep but somehow she woke up early anyways. She put on her cuddly robe, pushed her thick hair out of her tired eyes and peeked out of her window. The sun wasn’t rising yet. It was cold. Instead of turning on the bright lights of her room she lit a few candles.

She felt like playing with magic, but it seemed like a waste. It was considered slightly disrespectful to throw blood magic around for no reason. She didn’t mind the scars, they were important to her. In her family it wasn’t a choice, the magic just came at some point, and you couldn’t turn it away. As a whole they had slipped entirely out of sight in the world. There were other humans with magic, eight clans of them to be exact; each had different powers limited to their bloodline. The rest of society had managed to ignore them throughout history but even in the other clans, most were unaware that a ninth clan existed.

The bloodlines of the nine families stretched back to the middle ages, records were stashed here and there but any answers as to how long the families had been around or where they came from were long lost. At some point in ancient history, it became apparent that blood magic was by far the most versatile magic. Shapeshifting and controlling the weather were impressive, and there’s nothing as handy as seeing into the future or reading people’s minds, but blood magic had no apparent restrictions. You were given raw power to do with as you will, as much as it as you could get your hands on.

That was the problem. A few Blood Sorcerers got a little too greedy and kept slaves, cutting them for their blood. This was the first big use of destructive magic from any of the clans. When too much blood was spilt, in the case of when someone was killed, the Sorcerers were flooding with more raw power than they could use. It destroyed their minds, and in the ensuing slaughtering rampage became crazier and more powerful. The other clans didn’t stand a chance. The blood Clan had to dispose of their own..

The other clans would have wiped the Blood Clan from the map if they had the power to. Ashamed, her family had retreated and collectively hidden. Eventually they were forgotten.

The other clans were spread over the world in various family homes, but the oldest members often met. Together they managed to keep their families from abusing their advantage and not revealing their existence to anyone outside. The Blood Clan never sent any representatives to these meetings.

It was impressed upon them at a young age that they must take responsibility of everything they touched with their magic, be respectful of its power, and look at the rest of humanity with compassion. It’s also made clear that anyone who starts down a destructive path will be “taken care of”. This strategy was brutal but effective, and rarely did anyone step out of bounds.

The scars were essential to their pride and reputation. Her whole family carried scars visibly on their forearms. It was a statement: “I’d rather hurt myself, than hurt you”. Over the years Elise had purposefully cut in the same patterns, engraving elegant swirls that wrapped around her arms, she thought it was pretty. She traced these patterns with her fingers when she was deep in thought.

Elise jerked her fingers away in surprise as someone pounded ruthlessly at her door. Panic swept over her.

“ELISE! ELISE!”

The panic was replaced with irritation. “Gunter, what is WRONG with you?!” She opened her door, and the little man shoved past her and slammed the door shut, locking it. Gunter was from the Green Clan, people whose magic was tied to plants and the earth. He seemed good enough at what he did. She’d seen him plant a seed and watched it becoming a full grown tree in minutes, but he was painfully lacking any dignity or confidence. His skills in the kitchen just didn’t make up for that.

Elise crossed her arms. “What are you doing in my room, Gunter.” She asked icily.

“There’s an intruder in your house!” He said, pointing to the door. Elise looked to the door and listened but it was silent.

“That’s unlikely.” She said finally. “No one has any reason to come here. Unless someone’s trying to rob us?”

“No! It’s a violent and horrible man! He’s here to attack!”

“Alone?” She pointed out, skeptical.

Someone knocked on the door. Gunter froze. “Don’t answer it.” He whispered urgently.

Elise was surprised. Not only one night visitor, but two?

“Who is it?” She asked through the door.

“Doesn’t matter,” said a low voice. “I have business with Gunter Green. Please let me in and step aside. I’d prefer not to break down your door.” Elise noted that he had an unfamiliar accent.

“Don’t! Tell him I’m not here!” Gunter whispered.

“I hear you,” said the voice.

“Fine, but you have to explain yourself.” Elise pulled out her pendant and took the dagger into her hand before reaching for the door, and Gunter leapt behind her.

As soon as she had undone the lock, the door was pushed open. The dim candlelight didn’t seem expose him, it was like the light was avoiding him. Elise shivered, but was more intrigued than she was scared. She didn’t have much to fear from anyone, not with her magic.

Was he from another clan? Which one had magic like that?

“Sorry for the intrusion,” said the man in the doorway, “It wasn’t my choice to involve you.”

Suddenly Gunter’s hand shot out and he flipped all of the light switches. The glaringly bright light made Elise squint her eyes, but she didn’t miss how the man took a step back, wincing. She ignored her stinging eyes to get a good look at him. Realizing what she was faced with, she stood still in surprise as the demon stepped around her and pursued Gunter, who was yelping, across the room.

Elise had never met a demon before. One of the privileges of having an ancient family, their records gave them more insight to the world around them than the average citizen. Demons were a race of strange people who lived deep under the earth, they looked human enough, but had a magic of their own. There had never been any confrontation between the demons and the clans, the records had only noted their coming and going. Demons came to the surface only rarely.

The demon was handsome in a foreign way. She might not have placed him as inhuman if she hadn’t noticed how black his eyes were and put it together. He was of slightly taller than average height, very muscular, with dark hair, and overall he gave her the impression of a panther. He looked so exotic and moved with a strange grace that she was mesmerized. He reached behind his back and took a hold of a thick staff, which as he removed it from a strange long bag with many straps revealed itself to be an elaborate axe. He lifted it to strike, a grim executioner.

“WAIT! STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW!” Elise screamed at him urgently, snapping out of her daze.

He hesitated, and turned slightly to look back at her. “What?!” he asked, annoyed, “I’m a little busy.”

“You can’t do that!” She insisted.

“That’s right!” Gunter squeaked, then gained more confidence, saying, “She’s a powerful sorceress and would never let you kill me. Right, Elise?!”’

“No, that’s not it.” Elise looked the stranger in the eyes and said firmly. “Just believe me. If you kill him in this house it will be very bad for everyone. You might as well kill me as well. Just put the axe down so we can talk about this.”

The man made no move to put down his axe and simply looked at her, holding his pose. “I can’t. I have to kill him.”

“Just promise me not to do it here until you’ve heard me out.” Elise was shaking visibly. “Please!” Maybe she had nothing to fear from an intruder, but from the look of the axe, Gunter’s life force was about to escape from his mutilated body right in front of her eyes in her own bedroom. Elise doubted she could stop him in time. A few seconds, a pull of gravity, was all it would take for the axe to fall.

They stood silently, staring at each other. Elise marveled at the strength of his arms as he held the axe in midair.

“What’s your name?” She asked, half out of curiosity, half stalling for time to think.

His gloomy face lightened with surprise. “Dark Shadows.” He frowned. “It’s not really a name, I know.”

“That’s a fine name.” Elise said soothingly. “Now tell me, what did Gunter do?”

“Well. I don’t know.” He thought for a second. “Stole valuable artifacts, or something. He made some powerful people really angry.”

“You’re about to kill him, and you don’t even know why?”

“I’m an assassin. It’s what I do. Take it up with the Demon Council, they sent me.”

“Maybe I will.” Elise said. Her heart was racing. “But you still can’t kill him right now. Take him with you, for all I care. Just don’t do it here.”

“What?!” Gunter squeaked. “He invaded your home! You’re telling me the Blood Clan lets people come right into their home and kill guests?”

“You be quiet!” Elise said angrily. “You brought him here! You were never interested in marrying me in the first place! You only wanted me to protect you from the consequences of your own actions!” She wanted to spit for emphasis, but that would be unladylike. “Coward!” she hissed.

Dark Shadows looked impressed. “I still have to kill him now,” he said anyway.

“Just take him with you!” Elise pleaded.

“I can’t.” He said regretfully. “I have orders to kill him immediately, since I’m currently in the process of killing him I’m okay, but I can’t put the axe down, I’d be disobeying.”

“So what?!”

“I have no choice.” He turned away from her. “It’s a spell, I can’t stop if I tried.”

“Really?” Elise asked, horrified, “That’s…”

“Cruel?” He finished. “I know.”

Elise smiled triumphantly as a solution dawned on herher. “Okay Dark Shadows, here’s a deal. I remove the spell on you, and you let Gunter go.”

“You can do that?” Dark Shadows asked, hopeful, before frowning again. “The spells are strong and very, very deep. I don’t think they can be removed anymore.”

Elise swung her hair over her shoulder proudly, grinning at him. “I can do it,” she said confidently.

“How?”

“I’m a Blood Sorceress. I’m very good at it.” She grinned smugly. “Ready to be free, Dark Shadows?”

Elise slid off her robe, and dropped it on a nearby chair. Underneath she wore a short nightgown with no sleeves to get in her way.

Dark Shadows grinned back, eyeing her. “Maybe, can I be your slave instead?”

“We’ll see.” She winked.

“ARE YOU KIDDING?” Gunter burst out. He point to the axe above his head. “This demon is about to kill me, will you stop FLIRTING?”

“Shut up, Gunter, I’m not doing this for you.” Elise glared. “I’m doing this because if your blood spills in this house, it will be a very rude awakening for many sleeping Blood Sorcerers. I don’t even want to know what would happen.”

Holding up an arm, she took her sharp little dagger and traced a long swirl on her arm. Blood welled up, and she peeked at Dark Shadows. He didn’t look horrified at all, just curious. Suddenly she felt dizzy, and everything blurred a little while she breathed slowly and mentally focused on getting all of the life force around her coalesced. She imagined manacles on Dark Shadow’s wrists and ankles, the chains tight down to the floor, then let it all go, and in her mental picture the chains were blasted out of view.

Dark Shadows dropped the axe, and it thumped to the grown beside Gunter, who flinched away and scampered through the still open door.

“Whoa.” Dark Shadows said softly. He looked at Elise intently. “That’s incredible. I don’t know what to say.” He stood quietly and she waited as he seemed to be in deep shock. “Thank you. I’ve never even imagined…”

“Maybe… maybe you should stick around for a few days, to make sure it worked.” She said shyly.

What am I doing! She asked herself. This isn’t just some attractive guy, he’s a demon!

“I think that’s a good idea too. I don’t really have anywhere to go,” he admitted. “This is my first time on the surface.”