Early morning sunlight danced off of the keen silver edge of the throwing knife Thana flung at the tree. She whirled and kicked out at invisible enemies, moving backwards until her fingers gripped the hilt. Yanking it out, she thrust it forward, straight through her imaginary adversary's heart. Thana straightened, brushing her long dark hair out of her eyes, glancing up at Admetus, perched on the tree.

"I'm getting better, don't you think?"

Admetus spread his wings in reply, gliding down to easily land on her shoulder. Thana smiled, stroking his glossy feathers. He affectionately nipped her finger, and Thana felt the corners of her mouth tug down slightly. Seven years. It had been seven years since she had vowed to defeat her father, and though she grew stronger with each passing day, she was also growing wiser. She too often caught Emrys' eye when he was looking at her, while trying not to let her notice.

He thought she was training for her death. To him, his promise to his sister was binding above all, and he did not see how protecting Thana tied in with her training to defeat the demon who had caused Amethyst's death in the first place. Thana had innocently pointed out that, without his guidance, she would surely die. Ever since then, Emrys had taught Thana what he knew about demons. She knew how to identify a lesser demon from a greater demon on the ranking scale, how to differentiate between corpses and the animated dead, and how to deal with the different types of magic wielders.

On her own, she had been developing the inborn talent of fighting Erebus had graced her with. With Admetus as her only supporter, as Emrys flat out refused to help in that aspect of her training, Thana had blossomed from the girl afraid of tripping on a knife. Unbeknownst to Emrys, Thana had been sneaking away in the early hours, for special training. As her powers grew, it became easier for her to detect demonic presence. As her knowledge of demons grew, her hatred of the forsaken race skyrocketed.

She sought them out in the early hours, when Emrys wasn't constantly supervising her. Regardless of whether they fought back or ran, Thana destroyed any and all demons she came across. It didn't even strike her as heartless. Demons were soulless, heartless, unfeeling beings that worked dark magic to defile and taint the lives of others. They were like an abyss, never ending, but sucking up darkness until that was all it comprised. Thana didn't consider demons to be privileged enough to be offered kindness. They were all the same.

Inside, though she loathed to admit it, Thana's greatest fear was that the demon inside her would one day overcome her. She was scared that she would forget what it was like to feel, to love, to laugh. The idea that somewhere inside of her resided the demonic lust for blood and bloodshed repulsed her. She shut these feelings away, and felt justified in slaughtering the demons. To her, it wasn't just Erebus to blame. The entire race shared that tainted heritage of destruction.

Sighing, Thana tossed the knife up into the air, letting it drop point first into the blanket of soft snow. Though Emrys never stated it outright, Thana knew that he had deliberately secluded them from the rest of the world to safeguard them if Thana's demonic side ever won. She had vague memories of her mother, and a young boy with an infectious smile. Every time she thought of the boy's laughing face, the corners of her mouth would tip upwards, no matter how upset she might be. It confused her, because she had no idea who he was. Sometimes, when she was reading Emrys' books, or even just gazing out and up at the sky, Thana wondered about what it would have been like to have been born 'normal'. She tried to wrap her mind around the idea of growing up surrounded by people, and friends, but she was never truly able to understand. Truthfully, the idea scared her a little, almost as much as it appealed.

Thana lay back on the snow, stretching out close to her knife, and Admetus swooped down, landing gracefully next to her. Smiling gratefully at her best and only friend, Thana closed her eyes, as weariness suddenly swept over her. Her sleep was troubled at best at night, so she compensated for this in the daytime. It was only for a few moments, she reasoned. A little nap...

Her eyes shot open. She blinked, blearily trying to recall where she was. She had been dreaming that she had been in one of those factories Emrys told her about, but one that made porcupine pillows. She had tripped and fallen on one of them, and more had been thrown on top of her...

Thana jumped up, startled to realise that the prickly feeling had left the dream with her. She gazed down accusatorily at Admetus, who was looking up at her innocently, but she saw the scrap of the fabric that her pants were made of in his beak.

"Why were you pecking me?" she fretted, gazing around.

It was still light out, and no more snow had fallen. As Thana puzzled over why Admetus could have possibly been pecking her, the ground shook. Squawking, Admetus took flight, and she grabbed onto his leg without thinking. Earthquakes weren't uncommon were they lived, and more often than not they caused avalanches. Thana was lamenting the vast amounts of snow she would have to shovel when she first felt it. It was as though the air around her pulsed, and her senses sharpened. She could smell it now, the acrid scent, sickly sweet, a demon's trademark.

Admetus' trusty eye scanned the horizon, and Thana tightened her grip on him, fear gripping her, rendering her speechless. Emrys. The demons had to be after her, but what if they harmed Emrys?

"I'll kill them," Thana whispered, the knife strapped at her side a friendly weight. It reminded her that she had a weapon.

She knew Admetus must have seen something when she felt him descending. Her feet grazed the white snow, and she was almost sick when she looked down. Flecks of red blood tainted the purity of the snowscape.

"Emrys! Emrys! Where are you?!"

She screamed until she was hoarse, and she began running, blinded by tears. Demons. The demons again. They were everywhere, taking everything she had loved, did love and would ever love away from her. They would forever haunt her past, present, and future. Thana whipped out her knife as she stumbled across the uneven ground, screaming through the tears streaming down her face.

At last, she saw. Emrys had been gathering herbs, more than likely to prepare one of Thana's favourite foods. He was still holding them, gripping them tightly. He knew how much Thana loved his cooking. She dropped to her knees, no longer able to cry, but she reached out for Emrys, and she stroked his hand. He had always been pale; she had often joked that he was whiter and purer than the snow around them. In death, his complexion was bloodless. A strangled cry escaped Thana's lips as she stared at her guardian.

His throat had been slashed, and his clothes as well. To Thana's disgust, the wound at his neck had obviously not been deep enough to kill him immediately. He had bled to death, alone in the cold, probably screaming for help. Thana was shaking, with hate for the demons, and anger with herself. If only she hadn't taken that nap... Tears began falling again, as she touched Emrys' face, his mouth and ears, knowing that she would never again hear his lectures, or his kind words, or whimsical facts. He was gone, forever, her only lifeline to the world.

A rustling of wings behind her caused her years of self-training to kick in. She drew her knife and spun around, her knife cutting into the thick arm of what could be nothing but a demon. Looking up, she caught Admetus' eye. He had been warning her, and he had been, as always, just in time. Squaring her shoulders, Thana directed her fierce gaze towards the demon.

It wasn't a pretty sight, but then, few demons were. It was a good foot taller than Thana was, and it was heavyset, undoubtedly one of those demons that lumbered about, clumsy and dumb. It growled, and Thana took that as a sign that it couldn't speak English, confirming her earlier observation. A strange buzzing filled her ears when she saw the demon's tusks. They protruded upwards from the mouth, and were yellowing in decay. Blood spotted the teeth, but sticking from one as well, was a swatch of Emrys' clothes.

Thana screamed, racing forward, slamming her knife into the demon, but the same trick didn't work twice. The demon carelessly caught the knife and tossed it aside. Words failed her; devastation and fury were her only companions as she threw herself at the demon, kicking, punching and scratching, blindly trying to avenge Emrys. Admetus joined the fray, scratching at the demon's bulbous eyes, and thick limbs. The demon was much stronger than Thana, and it brushed her away like an irksome fly. It stepped towards Emrys, but that was too much for her.

"Don't you dare touch him!"

She scooped up some snow and tossed it at the demon. Her efforts rewarded her with an acknowledgement from the demon, that turned to regard her almost quizzically. She had never felt so helpless before. Emrys was gone, and she couldn't even defend herself. What chance did she stand against Erebus? Thana gripped the ground, tears sliding down her cheeks onto the snow, as she tried to search for a way out, a way to fight, a way to do something. Anything. She needed Emrys. He hadn't deserved to die this way!

Through her grief, she heard the heavy footsteps of the demon. She braced herself, but she knew she could never console herself to that end, where she willingly gave up. When the footsteps stopped abruptly, and she felt the demon moving to touch her, instinctively she threw up a hand in defence.

Thana stared into the depths of the ring on her finger, hand stretched out before her, and she looked at the glittering amethysts decorating the ring, and choked, wondering why she couldn't have been there to protect Emerys the way her mother had been there to protect her.

Please, help me, Thana begged, of no one in particular, but of anyone who would listen. As though responding to her plea, the ring on her finger pulsed. Confused, the demon reached for the ring, but the moment its finger touched the gem, it jerked its hand back, as though electrocuted. The demon dropped to the ground, writhing and flailing in pain. Thana stared at the demon, stunned. Admetus flew above her and dropped the amethyst handled knife onto her lap. Gaping at her falcon, Thana snatched up the dagger and, staggering towards the demon, plunged it into its stomach. Yelling in pain, the demon began to disintegrate before her eyes, a pile of blackened dust that the harsh winter winds scattered.

Before Thana could catch her breath, the ground shook beneath her feet. She crumpled, and at first she believed she was just overcome from the effort of slaying the demon. But when she felt Admetus trying to tug her upwards, she realised that it was another earthquake. Although she was trying, Thana couldn't move. It was almost as though she were glued to the ground, unable to get up and seek refuge. She wanted to, but she could not. She couldn't explain it.

As the ground violently rocked beneath her knees, Thana felt herself dreaming again. In the dream, Admetus grew to an impressive size, and he folded her into his wings, protecting her from the quaking below. He took her away, to a magical place where she no longer had to worry about demons or fighting. A safe place, her haven.

Thana was shaken from her dream when rough, calloused fingers grabbed her upper arm, jerking her to her feet. Whirling around, she felt for her knife, but it wasn't on her body. Thana blinked, and then stumbled backwards. Surrounding her were actual people. But that wasn't the cause of her rapid, erratic heartbeat. All of these men carried swords. Thana's eyes flicked from the sword strapped at the waist to the face of the man who was directly before her. His eyes widened in fear when she looked at him. As Thana opened her mouth to speak, another person jabbed a sword hilt into her side, robbing her of breath.

"Intruder! Demon! Intruder in the kingdom! Alert King Rayleigh immediately!" 

(So, what do you think? Alex didn't appear in this chapter, but she will in the next! I hope you all comment, and tell me your thoughts! -Amaris)