Lightly tugging on the chain connected to Snow Lily's handcuffs, Dásos frowned, revolted by the thought of putting her in chains. Snow Lily gave him a reassuring smile and stepped forward. “It’s okay, Phorest, the runes are only accurate enough to dampen my powers. I can still fight.”

  With a heavy heart, Dásos extended his hand to Snow Lily, who, having teleported with him before, held her breath in anticipation. When they landed in a dark alleyway near the castle, she shoved away from him to evacuate her stomach. When Snow Lily's world stopped spinning and she could stand up straight again, Dásos materialized a bottle of water for her. “Shall we?” he asked when she seemed well enough recovered.

  They turned the corner to a horrifying and confusing mess. The sentry guards were barely more than piles of rubble at the gateway, and several bodies could be seen just beyond, mangled beyond recognition.

  Marching across the open drawbridge, they entered the castle courtyard. Several soldiers lay scattered across the cobblestones. Most of them had bled out, but as Dásos searched, he found one semi-conscious soldier. Kneeling next to the demon, he asked in urgency, “What has happened here?” Unable to speak, the demon coughed and sputtered up blood until he too passed on. “Damnit!” throwing the body to the side, Dásos looked around for any other survivors.

  A powerful essence radiated all around him. His skin crawled with a sense of familiarity. A subtle bouquet of lilacs and smoky embers floated through the courtyard. A smile tugged at lips, “She's awakening."

  Snow Lily chewed at her lip and furrowed her brow. "but to commit a massacre during such as this? And Friskalia usually awaken in Ethera,"

  "Sure, if we're talking demons." His smile widened, “Her Primordial Awakening is another matter entirely.”

  A rage-filled shriek echoed through the courtyard, followed by a wave of energy, and with it, the scent of lilacs and embers intensified. A body fell from a window from somewhere above, landing in the square with a sickening thud. The skull cracked on impact, leaving another smear of red on the cobblestone. Pinpointing the source of the aura, Dásos wasted no time. He grabbed hold of Snow Lily and teleported to a balcony high above the courtyard. A shiver ran down his spine.

  Before Snow Lily had enough time to adjust, Dásos shoved her back, positioning himself between her and the terrace door.

  Facing the doorway, he took a defensive stance. “H-h-hey…” his voice shook, a mix of excitement and fear. “Those are some fancy new ivories you’ve got there.” He gasped as he threw his arms into an X in front of his face. Fire lashed out on either side of him, and Snow Lily thanked her stars for her petite stature. Fire to an Ice-Daemon was a killer like no other. “And a fancy new power, too.”

  “Go away!” The voice belonged to the owner of the angry cry they had heard moments ago. A feminine timbre with a beastly overtone. The soft scent of lilacs mixed with smoke followed after the initial fire blast. Snow Lily knew at once who Dásos spoke with.

  “Dásos, move!” Shoving past the Primordial, Snow Lily’s heart shattered at the sight before her. She tried to speak, but it came out barely more than a gasp as if her voice was trying to choke her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Snow Lily tried again. “Keshiema.”

  The young woman in front of her was no doubt the daughter of the man who held her heart. If nothing else, the aura gave it away. The lavender swirls surrounding the girl carried her beloved's scent.

  But what was most noticeable was a trait from his father; Streaks in the girl's silver-blue hair shifted rapidly between a rainbow of colors, with matching whirlpools in her eyes. Embers floated within the wispy aura, glowing brighter when her streaks were red and almost disappearing when the streaks turned black.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Keshiema lifted her arm. The wild embers pulled in, surrounding her upraised hand. “Keshiema, stop!" Dásos shouted, "She's your mother!”

  'My mother?' The streaks in her hair shifted only between black and red now. “You abandoned me!”

  “I promise you, I’ve always been as near as Fate would allow.” Snow Lily felt Keshiema’s rage as her face twisted in anger.

  “You let Chu and May hurt me! Hurt my friends!” Snow Lily opened her mouth to defend her actions, but Keshiema did not let her speak. “You let my family die!”

  “Keshiema, stop! Your mother did everything she could to protect you!” Dásos kept a close eye on the growing ball of fire in Keshiema's hand. He recognized the ability, and if hers was even half as powerful as Fotiá’s, he needed to tread carefully.

  “You’ve no room to talk! You broke our blood bond! You said you’d be there for me! I thought you were my friend!”

  “I did not break our bond by choice, Kesh.” A spark lit her eyes as the nickname left his lips. He turned around, grabbing Snow Lily and shielding her with his own body. The fire in Keshiema’s hand burst, engulfing the room. As the heat faded, Dásos turned around to find Keshiema on her hands and knees, struggling to breathe.

  Brushing the fire out of his hair, Dásos cautiously approached Keshiema. Her hair stopped shifting colors, keeping streaks of red, black, and white. She looked up at him as he reached his hand out to her. “What’s wrong with me?” she gasped. Accepting his hand, she let him help her to her feet.

  “Nothing is wrong with you.” Dásos brushed her hair away from her face. He stepped aside as Snow Lily approached. She held out her hands, and he removed her handcuffs.

  With her hands free, Snow Lily knelt next to keshiema and took her hand. “Your father's bloodline has awakened in you. He did not go through this until much later in his life. I thought I had time. I thought my bloodline would awaken in you first.”

  The lies were beginning to pile up. She had been deceived into a life of cruelty and abuse. Her only friends were assigned to keep an eye on her. Her supposed guardian angel repeatedly hurt her. The fire in her heart threatened to burst again. Cinders formed in faint wisps of lavender aura. The whole reason she was believed to be the prophesied one, the reason her family was murdered might have been a lie. “I’m not half human?”

  Snow Lily hurried to explain. “Not half, no. Your heritage is a bit complicated. Your Grandfather was neither human nor demon. He was something different. “Dásos, I need your help here.” Dásos glared at Snow Lily; Keshiema was the only one he wanted using his true name.

  Pieces started falling into place, giving her a sense of the grand picture. “An angel then?” In her mind, only three species existed outside of fairy tales, making that the last possibility. The disgust on Dásos’s face told a different story. “Then what?” she remembered the story from the library. The ghost must have had a reason for sharing it.

  Dásos ground his teeth. He was not ready to tell her this. He paced the room, brushing his hand through his hair, clenching his fists, looking at anything except for her. Keshiema took his hand, stopping him in his tracks. "Please, I just want someone to tell me the truth."

  One would think the truth would be easy for a being who was cursed by Fate to never lie. “A Primordial.” He confirmed with a sigh.

  He did not want to broach the topic in the first place, so she chose not to pry further, for now. “My grandmother, then? She must have been human?"

  “Sort of.” Dásos thought about how to explain it. “Azura is the oldest daughter of Adam and Eve.” He paused to let the information sink in. “Being the only humans to eat of the Tree of Knowledge made them quite different from the rest of humanity.”

  “This is a lot.” Keshiema rubbed her eye with her palm, trying desperately to stave off confusion. Her teeth ached, and her nail beds were sore. Her stomach grumbled, begging for food. With the fire in her soul settled into a small ember, a bitter chill prickled her skin.

  A broken mirror caught her eye on the far wall. Between its cracks, she saw herself. Not the monster she had spied in the reflection of a fallen soldier's shield, but her normal half-demon self.

  In the silence, she remembered the infuriating aura she had been chasing earlier. She could still feel it thick in the air around her. But it no longer called to her, enticing her to follow it. The moment Dásos appeared the overwhelming presence was watered down.

  A wave of exhaustion washed over her. Her vision blurred and her legs collapsed. Catching her as she fell, Dásos took the cue and teleported them out of the castle.