I could not really remember my father he was gone most of the time because he assisted the King as a intermediate Major in the Kings army. We my mother and me lived with his father on a small farm that raised vegetables and various fruits. In addition, my mother was a herbal healer so each morning we would spend picking, cleaning and preserving miscellaneous herbs, wild berries and mushrooms. In the afternoon we would go to the nearby villages and sell herbs to the apothecaries and even to individuals for a few coins. In the evening we would clean, cooks and make herbal remedies until we lost the light.
In the summer we would go on much longer trips to find the rarer herbs and also make reed baskets and sandals for grandpa to sell to earn enough to get by. We didn't have much meat until grandpa taught me to shoot a bow as a joke when I kept asking for meat. His bow was too large. and his arrows almost as tall as me, but once he showed me. I became infatuated and would not keep bothering him till he made me a small bow that I could use. Strangely it felt as if it was natural to use it and soon I was bringing home birds, chipmonks, rabbits and anything else I could shoot nearby.
By the age of ten I had grown strong enough to shoot his old short bow, gramps laughed when he first saw me trying to use it. However three days later when I brought home a young one horned buck we had a small celebration. Finally on my 14th birthday my father came back home to stay, mainly because he had nearly lost his life in the demonic support war. Half his face was badly burnt and he had a bad limp on the right side but my mother was glad he was back. I had some doubts but I think it was mainly because he was a stranger, after all I only had a chance to see him about once every two years.
At first he was really quiet, but then he started dranking and then the violence started. Raised voices changed into shouting, a smack changed into a punch or slap and each day grew worst. Finally I had enough and pulled a knife on him screaming out my fear, hatred and anger. He grabbed his sword and raised it above his head to swing it but his father held him back. The next day he was gone and gramps fell ill, each day we could see him fading away. He would not eat and didn't want to go outside anymore, I felt responsible because I had chashed his son away.
That winter less then three month later gramps passed away and so there was just the two of us now. Since my dad had left my mother had also been much more withdrawn not smiling much or laughing. I pleaded with her not to leave me too and that seemed to snap her out of it a little. She had to plant the fields in gramps place so I took over our little routine. We would made due if nothing else happened to us however father finally came back to us but not in the way we expected.
He was wearing preist robes and wanted to tell us he was denauncing his previous life of wickedness and ruthlessness. He ask for forgiveness of all his sins and ask my mother to accept his decisions. She forgave him before running out of our home crying, I said I didn't understand what he wanted then went to get mother. When I found her she was calm enough to explain, priests could not be married so in essence he had divorced her. So now I had no father at all and that was a good thing but I guess a demon lord pledges can't be broken that easily. When I went to bed that night I was tired, confused and a little relieved hopefully my mother could move on and we would be ok. I soon found out this would be my last normal though for a long time.
I was woken up by a pair of huge clawed hands holding me up while something else shoved a glove into my mouth. My mother head had a flour sack over it and she was tied up with chain. Several smaller horned and clawed creatures were grabbing anything they wanted from our house. As we were being carried out one of them must have knocked coils out of the fire and soon even while travelling into the wood I could still see the flames rising upwards. Sometime later they knocked me completely unconscious because of my struggling and so darkness and nightmares became my companions.
I awoke to screaming and pleading and instantly wished I was back in my nightmares of running from the hunting darkness. My mother was chained to the floor in front of a massive demon. Many small demonic like animals were scratching and biting her to lick at her bloody cuts.
She would scream and try to hit them away but her chains made her be sadly very unsuccessful. She pleaded to the large demon on the chair asking again and again what he wanted. He finally got tired of this and asked "Where is your husband ? Where was Lion Heart the demon slayer hiding?" We both were stunned not even knowing what he was talking about. Finally it clicked he was talking about my father, that damm useless man even as a priest he was still hurting us.
My mother was stun as well but still had the guts to ask "How do you a demon know of my husband and of us? What would have made it worthwhile to steal us away over the many others?" The demon threw back its head and laughed the sound would haunt me through eternity as it seemed to cause pain to my very soul.
"Foolish mortal I am not just some common unintelligent and low level being. I am demon lord Angra Mainyu, a true fallen angel and one of the top twenty demonic beings an terms of power and magic. Your husband made a binding seal contract with me. If you are going to say what's that? I will kill you so I will spare the time and explain slowly so you will get it.
There are two ways to become a demon the most common being a demon bite that starts corruption within the body. The second is a demonically sealed soul done by written contract which gives both sides something. For me, I require a dominated soul and a form of entertainment and for him, he wanted to live a few years longer. So once again where is your husband?"
"He joined the purifying light and is seeking redeeming forgiveness and has renounced all worldly things including our very marriage. They took him away no one know where their church's are," my mother replied. Her loud chattering teeth and shivering body showed that this would not be something this demon wanted to hear. The demon Angra quickly stood up and roared the whole caverness room shook and rocks fell from the roof onto the ground killing several smaller demons.
"Fool, that will not save him in the end, but today someone owes me a soul and a lot of pain. So who should it be after all I have such sweet treats to eat in front of me the mother is weak and probably won't last very long as entertainment but the daughter more innocent soul while harder to corrupt will be a better conquest. Of coarse once the soul is taken and eaten its immediate power would maybe sooth my angry heart. However it will be so fleeting. Hum, so what to do?"