The Daemon

Chapter 10

Wide eyed, I watched the man that I remembered as Percy, pace around the small space of the cave. I was warm and unharmed so I relaxed a little but I remained aware and ready for anything. This was the darkness I had felt in the periphery for some time. This was not really the change that I was expecting and the feel of the energies around me told me that this was minor but would be on the way to greater changes. My gifts told me that this may be the most painful of my experiences though and that I should not let down my guard. He was going to hurt me and no one would be able to stop him in time. A part of me wished that I could shed more tears for myself but that was done. It would take a lot for me to cry again and I was not willing to give my tears to someone such as this.

I was ready as I was ever going to get. I had had enough of this being helpless and all I could think at the moment was ‘bring it on’.

Percy eyed the boy and smiled. His little one, the one that was going to be his partner, the one that belonged to him was finally here. All the hard work and patience had paid off.

Aranata was such a beautiful boy and all Percy had to do was mold him into his ideal. The boy was close enough as it was and it excited him in ways that he had not experienced before. It would be wonderful to feel that little body yielding to him physically and mentally. He felt pretty complete and it was something he had not felt in like forever.

Though he had prepared many things to be ready to make a home with his boy, he knew that they could not stay in the cave for long, after all the others would want the child back, but for tonight at least, everything was good. All the things he had gotten for Ara were carefully packed and ready to be put on the second horse. Meat that he had stolen was roasting on the fire and blankets were laid out for sleep. Everything was ready for a quick getaway once the sun came up.

“Time for sleep my love,” Percy said as they finished dinner. He picked up the still tied up boy and lay down with him in the blankets. Pulling the boy close to him, Percy fell asleep dreaming of the wonderful things that they could do together.

When Mikan rushed into the cottage, everyone was startled and curious if he had found anything.

“I am going to track him he’s been taken toward the north.”

Kairen and Makhail were ready to rush out the door but Grandmother bopped both upside the head.

“Calm down you idiots. If you go rushing about willy-nilly, we’ll have to save more than the boy.”

Grandmother sat and calmly started to sip her tea. The contemplative look on her face made all of them pause and wonder at what the woman would plan.

“Mikan, can you reach my grandson? Has your times with him been with contact on his part first or on yours?”

“He is the one who speaks to me Grandmother. I lend an ear so to speak and offer some advice but I do not try to unduly influence him. Interestingly he has some very mature views on the world despite being a child still.” Mikan leaned up against the door jam. “I assume that you wish me to try to contact him?”

Grandmother just gave him that calm knowing look that just said why did you even bother to ask? With a soft sigh, Mikan sat down crosslegged on the floor. His eyes closed and a sense of calm seemed to come over him. His breathe evened out and an aura of power surrounded him. The black hair that had been in a ponytail started to flutter in an unfelt breeze. His hands clenched and unclenched a few times before his eyes opened once more.

“This is a bit difficult it is as if there is a block of some sort between me and the boy.” Mikan closed his eyes once and the feeling of power rising once more fill the room. The vampire twitched a bit and frowned. Everyone waited with baited breath for news. After what seemed like an interminable amount of time, Mikan spoke again.

“Ara is fine at the moment. They are in a cave of some sort but he is unable to tell where because he had been hooded the whole way. He is upset but not scared as of yet. Apparently the man has some sort of delusions of love.” Cries of outrage sounded at his words. The other men were about ready for some blood. “He was able to show me what little he could tell of where he is being kept. There are two human bred horses and a well supplied cave.”

Mikan got up off the floor and turned to leave.

“Where are you going cousin?” Kairen being this overprotective of the boy had turned him into an annoying nosey busybody and Mikan was ready to give him a good punch if he pushed.

“I am going to prepare to track the boy. And before you ask, I do not wish for you to follow.” He gave a glare to Kairen and Makhail. “You’ll only slow me down.”

An outraged gasp was heard by the other two before Mikan walked out.

****_____******_______****

Five years, five damn years he had been tracking them. The damn rat was always one step ahead of him. When he got his hands on the human that had kidnapped Ara he was going to drain him of all his blood. Then he was going to hang him from the highest point he could find as warning to leave Ara alone.

Mikan contemplated what was happening at home. They had been keeping contact through spelled mirrors, skrying pools and telepathy. Grandmother was calm as ever, keeping Kairen and Makhail in check and making sure that the governance of their town was done well. Kairen was a total basket case and was barely able to manage his lordship duties, keeping the position by hanging on tooth and nail. Makhail was lucky that in his descent into insanity, his mother, father and sisters still ran their business without him. That particular demon was a bigger basket case than Kairen. Mikan could only shake his head at them, idiots, the both of them.

He rode Shade, his black monstrosity of a demon horse into the next town and looked for a place to rest and to glean some information on Ara.

It had been over nine years since Ara had been taken the first time and just as the boy was getting over his grief at the loss of his family, he gets kidnapped once more. It was constantly feared that the human that took him would violate the boy as well. So far from what they were able to get from Ara himself, the man had stuck to molestation and had not resorted to full on rape just yet. That alone would leave its own lasting impression on the child as it was.

He hoped that Ara was not too badly damaged inside and that all would be well when he found them.


I have cut something off inside of me. I do not know if it is just under lock and key or if it is just dead and gone. Every day has been a torturous meandering through life. Even with a will to fight, the constant battering of my confidence and sense of self is taking its toll. He comes to me every day and tells me he loves me. He pets my hair and my body. He touches me between my legs and runs his fingers through my hair. He would move his body against mine and it was just weird. All the touching and all the licking and it just grosses me out. I don’t resist except in my head. I do not fight cause memories of that man in the slavers camp. I don’t want to be like that. He has yet to hurt me sexually but emotionally I am a wreck. I feel tainted by the grubby hands that wander over me. He tells me that he has rid me of those that would hold me back and keep me away from him. I know he speaks of my family and I have no doubt that he speaks of being responsible for their deaths. I believe him and I can feel the truth of his words like the spirits of my family are screaming that it is him.

When he is not filling my ears with declarations of love, he sends me out to pick-pocket the crowds. At first it was difficult and slow going. I would get caught often only to be rescued by Percy. Now it is second nature to walk past a person in the market and lift a few coins if not the whole purse. If I do not come back to him with at least one coin, I get cuffed. I know it could be a lot worse so I try not to look defiantly at him and do as he asks. Often I become a part of his cons as a sick child or orphan or lost kid type of thing. I really hate being dishonest but after a while I became indifferent and I felt a part of me mourn because of that.

There are days that I do end up wondering if I did belong to this pervert. I wonder because sometimes it feels good to be held and I pretend that he really does love me. I feel pieces of myself becoming his, becoming a part of the lies. The one thing that I do not give him is my heart and my voice. I do not try to speak even if he begs me to. I do not reciprocate in any way to indicate that I loved him. I did not want him to own all of me. If I died in his possession I will not have given all of myself to that man. A part of me will still be me and will still belong to only me. This is hard to believe, that I am not his especially after he put a collar on me. It is beautiful, a soft red leather with chains of silver and gold and a small pendant with a jewel in it. It looks like a love gift, a piece of jewelry to be worn every day but I knew that it was a collar, a mark of ownership. Though it was beautiful and like jewelry, he has locked me to a leash on occasion with it.

On days that we enter a nearly all human town, he would leash me and dress in some gaudy dress clothes. He would take me around town and brag about what a wonderful pet that he had acquired for himself. He would rent a room at the inn and have me bathed and groomed like a pet. He would then go around spending the money that I had stolen for him and have his self a merry old time while I sit around and hope no one takes an interest in me. All of this builds up a level of resentment and pain in me that I feel will drive me insane with time.

I hear voices too. They tell me not to lose hope, that someone is looking for me, but I do not think I have any hope left to lose. This male voice that I heard for some time is the one that comforted me in my grieving. He helped me think and offered me sound advice. I listen and I talk to him but sometimes I wonder if I am just going mad. Mikan was his name. Mikan had a beautiful voice and soothing sense of power. A sense of safety comes over me when I feel it but now it just makes me feel despair. A feeling of despair that I would never be safe again, that I would be owned by this disgusting human for the rest of my life, it is a fear that overwhelms me at times. I would look to the skies and send myself to another place that holds safety in the loving arms of my family.

Mikan growled in frustration as he headed out with the dawn. He had just missed them again. All his attempts to contact Ara were in vain that evening. He directed Shade in the direction he felt the boy in. After all their telepathic conversations, he had started to be able to feel the boy. They had traveled through common demon lands and some occupied by only specific groups. That they were not caught or delayed in some way was a miracle in and of its self.

The lands that were occupied by specific groups tended to be xenophobic. They did not take to strangers very well and could get quite hostile. Only a few outsiders at any point and time were allowed into their communities. The dragons and other reptilian species tended to be very territorial. Unfortunately so were some the cat-like species as well. Hell nearly all demons could be territorial but were reasonable about it to a point.

With a sigh, he focused on the task at hand. There was a stretch of forest between him and the newest human settlement. He was surprised that they had chosen to settle there but they were a weirder bunch of humans than usual that immigrated here. They spoke of fairy and fae like they worshipped them and adored them. Mikan knew of a few who were willingly enslaved by some fae groups but this was more than a few and it just made him shudder. The fae that lived in this forest, actually more like under the forest in their mounds were more hedonistic than others of their kind. In the forests in their circles and glades on the surface were the Lilkin or what humans call fairies or pixies with their glittering wings. The Fae were a more human looking group that look a bit like elves but their beauty would draw in any mortal and entrance them. The Lilkin were little humanoid beings no bigger than six inches and were just as beautiful as the Fae but could also be just as deadly and just as vicious if riled.

Mikan rode on and pulled out a small bag no bigger than his thumb from inside his shirt. An almost mint scent wafted from it. It was a gift from one of his Lilkin friends, a favor for a favor so to speak. He had saved the little one from a trap that it had tumbled into and was gifted with this item. It was a charm to ward away or call one of their kind when needed and he needed to make sure that the human did not take Percy away out of these woods. He finally had an advantage that the other man did not.

Soon he heard and insect like buzzing. Little flits of movement were seen out of the sides of his eyes. It took a few moments before one of them approached him.

“Who are you who would call us?” A little male Lilkin asked him. The little body zipping to and fro in front of the horse was staying out of reach of those razor sharp fangs. He wore a green tunic that stopped a little above his knees and little shoes that looked like they were made from flower petals. He even had hair that held a greenish tint and eyes that were green with a pink center. His wings were translucent with a lime green hue and spread out behind him like a large butterfly.

“I am Mikan, lieutenant to Lord Kairen of the vampire covens of the south. I am here on a mission to find a missing child. He was taken by a human slaver five years ago and I have been tracking him since. I can feel the pull of the child in this direction and I wish aid in retrieving him.”

“What do we receive in return for our aid?” the Lilkin asked.

“The gratitude of the vampire Lord himself and a taste of royal vampire blood.” Mikan held out his arm and pulled up his sleeve. The buzzing sounds increased and more Lilkin showed them selves.

“What would you need us to do?” the little green one asked.

“Make sure the human with a demon boy does not leave this forest until I have the boy. You may do what you wish with the human then or I can take him to face the justice of Lord Kairen and the boy’s grandmother.”

“We will take your blood and the human then as payment.” The Lilkin buzzed around Mikan awaiting the drawing of blood. Mikan took and nail and sliced down his arm in a shallow cut. Blood welled out and started to drip when a swarm of them came in taking each drop before it could fall. By the time he had stopped bleeding, they had all had a drop in their small hands and were eagerly drinking. Vampire blood was something these little beings enjoyed and when they received it it was like having your favorite dessert presented to you.

“What does the boy look like?” a few of the Lilkin asked.

“He has golden eyes, is very young and has moonlight skin. His hair is a redish black and he is small.” Mikan started Shade forward.

“My thanks little ones,” Mikan bowed to them and made his way toward the human settlement with a bit of a smirk and a dark look in his eyes.