It was the same dream every night.

Running, from an invisible adversary in an empty room, the silence lashing at her ears like a whip, her dark her off her face, exposing her to the demons, the darkness she tried to run from, but what was deep inside her. Her wrists bled at the veins, from trying to break out the shackles... but how had she been caged? Crimson blood beaded at the knife cuts in her cheeks, her thighs... yet her eyes were alert, the frosty blue flecked with grey unaffected from the torture, the pain, silently enduring, knowing the body can get used to anything, even the cruellest form of pain. 

She dreaded sleep every night, but this was different, today something had changed. The pain was no longer as acute, the fear imbedded in her less potent, as though something, or someone was sharing her burden. A soft melodic voice that she had never heard before. And yet. It was so familiar, washed over her, in a haunting tune, that, like the voice, had eerie chords of familiarity. 

A voice that was neither angel nor demon. The voice was low, resounding, filling the room, yet not loud, permeating even the darkest recesses she had long understood to have never been touched by any pure magic, much less song. But this song was different. Was there some meaning behind the words of the woman, for indeed it was a woman's voice, and in her mind eye she saw an image of emerald eyes being obscured by long purple tresses.

"An angel knocks at my door..."

The rest of the voice was drowned out by the screeching, the horrible wailing that replaced the gentleness with darkness and terror. She strained at her bindings, desperate to break free, to stop the madness she knew she herself was causing.

"Please, someone, anyone, help me."

An new image flashed in her mind, of a dark skinned girl with waist length black hair tipped with sunshine, her complexion brought into sharpest relief by the blanket of snow behind her. She could not possibly be more than eight years old, a hunting falcon perched on her arm. She turned, and her features were visible for the first time. Her light brown eyes flashed slightly purple, the mark of a demon. 

The girl in the dungeon ceased pulling on her shackles, yielding for the first time, struck dumb by what she had seen. Perhaps escape, perhaps fighting back was not just a dream. She had looked into the eyes of the child and known...that girl would be her saviour. 

                                                                                             *

She had just let Admetus fly from his position on her arm when she went rigid, her body tense, as she had taught herself to do. She whipped herself around, eyes roving the landscape, searching for the disturbance, the magical web stringing everything together shaking, as though a fly had landed but gotten off very quickly, an impossible feat. The fly should have been snared, and she should have known where. The ring on the fourth finger of her left hand heated up, searing her skin, and she lifted her palm to eye level, staring at her shaking finger.

"Thana!"

She turned, her dark hair a curtain behind her, to see Emrys walking over, bundled up in a thick fur coat against the Antarctic landscape. Emrys took her hand, flipping it over, once then again, dropping it as though it were branding his skin. He too, began searching the surroundings for the source of magical disruption, but came up empty. He looked to the sky, his eyes crescents as he scanned for Admetus, Thana's trusty hunting falcon. His eyes flickered to the small girl once, thinking of the incredible history packed into a measly eight years. Admetus pivoted in the air...can falcons pivot? He swerved and dived, but just as he was to hit Thana's face with his wing, he extended a leg, which Thana gripped, as Admetus took her for an airborne tour of the Antarctic.

                                                                                                  *

It was the night that Thana hated the most. 

She saw the darkness pooling around her, how the demons who hunted and haunted the night parting, making way for her as Princess of the Night. She sat up in bed, the small thatch bed in Emrys' hut, and stared at her Demon Ring in the pure light of the moon. Yes, she knew the moon was radiating reflected sunlight, but the sun was hot, while the moon was cool... the sun knew its brightness and boasted, yet the moon accepted the small offering of beauty, shining not to heat, but to light the way of the night, to cut through the darkness with shafts of white light.

Thana studied the ring, which might, if it were not her curse, be considered pretty. It was a silver band inset with gems, which magically grew and decreased in size as her finger required. She was not sure how she had gotten it, but she had been told by Emrys to never remove it. Emrys was her mother's brother. Small diamonds, which deflected Dark Magic due to its uniquely hard exterior, snaked up the ring on either side, twisting its path to be infused with amethysts, a tribute, Emrys figured, to Thana's mother's name. Both gems spiralled up to guard a black stone, not even as big as her littlest finger nail. It was, Emrys said, a demon stone, and it stopped Thana's half demon side from taking over her.

Thana's father was a demon, which demon, Emrys was unsure, but definitely a strong one. When Thana was born, her demon father tried to take her. Her mother hid her in the safe room of the house, the only part that her father was forbidden to access. When Emrys had come to the ruins of the house, he had found Thana lying there, the ring solidified on her finger. Thana knew that Emrys knew more than he would tell her. She had a feeling that he knew the answers to the questions she posed for him, such as why her father had wanted her and who exactly he was. Emrys deflected all of her questions, but Thana had enough. How was she to learn, if not by protecting herself?

She shook off her blankets and crept out of the room, into Emrys' study. He was there, but his back was turned to the bookshelf, an open book on the desk. Banking on a risk, Thana rushed forward, her slipper-encased feet making not a sound as she crossed the room. She was just tall enough to see the book, clever enough to read upside down. It was an excerpt from a passage she read that caused her not to learn, but rather, realise.

Of all the demons, none is more feared than The King of Darkness, his reputation rivalled only by the Grimm himself. Erebus, the King of Darkness is the entity from which all lesser demons were borne. During the Dark Ages, Erebus was sealed by the Twelve Great Sages, to be unable to harness any outside power or use any of his Dark Magic, but his children are able to. Most of his demonic children do not do his bidding, and the lesser of them he easily disposes of. However, a half human, half demon child has been speculated to be able to break the seal and release his power.

Thana's trembling hands made to turn the page, but instead she pushed the book off of the desk. Emrys spun around, his eyes widening first in shock, which settled into resigned acceptance. Thana moved her mouth soundlessly, realising for the first time what she really was. A freak, a non-human being, just a necessary tool for her... no for Erebus' desire for power, that's what she was. The shock, the positive sadness, all of the negative emotions were burned away as though fire caught the edge of it and seared it into ashes that fuelled a desire to fight back, to finally find herself, after being lost for eight years.

"I want to learn how to fight," Thana said clearly and decisively to Emrys, her light brown eyes steady on his, "And I'm going to defeat him. Even if it is the last thing I do."

(To anyone who reads this: I hope you enjoyed this first part of The Chase! It gives a lot of the backstory to events that are going to happen in the next few chapters. Again, I hope you enjoyed and I would love any constructive criticism or any comments at ALL that anyone might have! Thank you! -Amaris)