《Demontale》 The Destined Hero and the Lonely Devil Hello! This is my first fiction and it would be great if you could comment, rate and/or leave a review so that I can start working. Note that this is only the beginning and if it seems interesting, I will continue writing. I have most of the story planned. So please do comment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I yet remember the day when I met him. As usual he was wandering in the woods, all alone. Unlike the dangers you would come across generally in a typical forest brimming with all varieties of creatures, this one was devoid of most of these monsters. The trees were not green but rather cyan in color. What was more so unusual about this forest was that it appeared to be tranquil or rather reticent, the reason for which shall be revealed later. Anyways coming back to the subject, he was wandering all alone in the woods, a pale skinned boy who had probably hit puberty recently. His black eyes wandered from left to right and then back to left. Unlike the most others of his age, he appeared to be self-assured. A light breeze had started to blow across the forest which again was very unusual. His blond hair was fluttering in the wind as he stood still, his eyes moving from one side to the other. He stood still for a few moments but the breeze did not stop its flow. His attire was suitable to his physique. He was wearing a hazel blue vest and trousers. After an indefinite period of time, he started moving towards his target. I was idly sleeping under the shade of a Willow Tree when he approached me. Sensing his presence, I immediately woke up but to my surprise, I found no one in sight. I could yet feel the presence getting stronger as the seconds passed by and no sooner had I noticed when I felt his hand touching my shoulder from behind. I turned around and was met with a dazzling smile. It took a while for my mind to register who he was. I definitely knew him but not personally. He was one of ¡°The Chosen¡± just like me yet different. He had what every kid would want: family and friends. He was showered with praise and love and affection for his talents since the time he could walk and talk whereas I was simply ignored. His deeds were regarded as acts of kindness whereas mine were nothing less than deception. The other kids flocked to him to gain his friendship. Moreover the girls followed him for something more but no one talked to me. I am sure I wasn¡¯t one of the socially inept kids, I tried conversing with few but I was ¡°politely¡± ignored. I felt sad, the wistful longing for social interaction made me pessimistic. However, it was not for long, something within me prevented me from breaking. In the conflict of heart and soul, the later prevailed. He stood moments away, giving me that dazzling smile. His presence was enough to make me feel betrayed. I resented him. He had everything what a child wished for but I had nothing. I wished for his death again and again and every time my conscience spoke otherwise. He had done me no harm. In fact he had always been kind to everyone including me. I started hating him for even that. But my conscience fought back, I knew he had done me no harm, how could I hate him? Amidst this rising conflict of emotions, his voice called to me. ¡°Serene, finally found you.¡± I nonchalantly replied ¡°What do you need Michael?¡± I had gotten used to his unusual attempts to converse with me. I previously did try to avoid him but simply ignoring him had not gone well with the others and had me go through some serious predicaments, emotionally. So I started engaging in seldom pointless talk whenever he approached me. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. What was going to happen would definitely change my life completely. It was only later that I realized I had interpreted it so wrongly¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s be friends¡± that¡¯s all it took for Michael to seize control over me. I knew that I could never be friends with him. I knew that one day I would be betrayed for The Cause. I hated him, I wished for his death which ended up in I resenting myself. Wishing for his demise would only further establish the fact that we were the Chosen. It would only prove that we were destined to cross swords. After all he was the Destined Hero and I, the lonely devil. Despite my grudge against him, his words managed to break my resolve. I knew that two ends of a stick could never actually meet but hope prevailed over logic. My life did change. People stopped avoiding me. In fact now I had began to be despised openly in the public. I was accused of bewitching the Hero. But there were few who started to consider me in new light. They were Michael¡¯s friends. I soon became part of their group. Few years passed during which our friendship only grew stronger, the public opinion started to drift in my favor. And this brings us to the current scenario.. I had turned eighteen tonight. I believe my friends were planning a surprise birthday party. Michael had invited me to the Woods at midnight, the emblematic place of our friendship. Since I expected a surprise, I did not notice anything unusual in his request. Alas! I was so wrong... On reaching there, I saw Michael sitting on a branch of my favorite Willow tree. He had obviously grown taller and there had been a significant positive change in his physique. But he smiled the way he always did. Sometimes I felt that he was hiding something behind his dazzling smile but I guess I was being skeptical. I naturally started walking towards him. His dazzling smile did not seem uninviting to me. As I walked closer, I suddenly felt extreme pain in the chest. Only a moment later did I realize that I had been stabbed in the chest with a knife. I was shocked, I could not believe what was happening, a series of emotions initiated turmoil in my mind. A friend of mine had stabbed me from behind. No, a friend of Michael had stabbed me. But Michael continued to smile. I could not maintain my stand and fell onto my feet. It was then when everything came to light. Michael¡¯s expression did not change. I knew I was going to die. My chest hurt but that wound was incomparable to the wound caused to my heart. My eyes were watering, I felt pain. However I needed to confirm something. I asked with all my might.. ¡°Why?¡± My action was met with a further series of laughter. Laughter of these three, the ones I had once called friend. I felt more pain but I could not let go yet. I wanted to know the reason. Michael then said ¡°It¡¯s cause you are the Lonely Devil and I¡¯m the Destined Hero.¡± I knew why yet I wanted to hear it from him. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I started regretting the decision that I had made that day under the same Willow tree. But a series of questions came up in my mind as I started to lose consciousness¡­How could he do this to me? Why did he befriend me? Why did he not kill me before? Why did they help him? As I finally began to close my eyes, I heard his final words. ¡°I wish you were not the Devil.¡± Prologue: Death As my conscience faded into oblivion, I found myself reliving all the memories of my life. Memories which I did not wish to recall, memories of regret, pain &suffering, memories of betrayal, I felt all of them emerging within my fading conscience. My mother passed away shortly after giving birth to me. Since I had no other relatives, I was raised in the local orphanage. I soon turned seven. Finally I had something to look forward to. I was going to form my first Sharia Bond but to my shock, I was unable to establish one.I was really sad, my body was not capable of establishing a bond. Incapable of forming one was as good as kissing a normal life good bye. I was discriminated against by the other kids. No, they did not make fun of me. In fact they pitied me. Apparently incapability was treated as a special case. I felt even more sad. I was 10 years old now. I was getting bullied by one of the other kids in school lately.The whole situation finally escalated into forceful summoning of my Sharia Bond. The kid ended up peeing in his pants. This was when I came to the realization that I could not establish a bond earlier as I already had one. But I did not recall establishing it. People started fearing me now. Everyone knew that I had formed a bond, a bond with the Lonely Devil. I was a Chosen One. The Chosen were a few individuals who had successfully established a bond with one of the seven defenders of fate. Legends spoke otherwise. There were supposed to be ten of them. However no one had yet successfully established a bond with the odd three. I was being ignored out of fear. The Lonely Devil was the defender known for chaos. People felt that communicating with me would result in bringing chaos to the world in one way or another. They could not even kill me. A chosen one could only be slain by another. If not, then the world would face dire consequences. That¡¯s what had been passed down to us by our ancestors. I was twelve now. I could sense people feigning ignorance to me. I was terribly pained the last few years but I had grown out of it. Wandering alone in the woods, I had found this Willow tree. Soon I started coming here daily to pass the time. Then he came¡­ My memories flashed by and then there was complete darkness soon followed by complete white. Then my view turned from white to red, then to blue and then to various different colors and then finally back to white. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The heavenly being stood before me. No¡­he was everywhere. I could feel his presence all around. He materialized before me, a being resembling a human but completely dyed in red. He said ¡°You were killed by one having no right to kill you. The world will now face the consequences.¡± He wasn¡¯t actually speaking to me. In fact he seemed to communicate with thoughts. I could hear him communicating the thought in my own voice. ¡°How is it possible? I was killed by another Chosen One and Who are you?¡± I thought back. ¡°I¡¯m the one you established your bond with. And no, the finishing blow came from a non chosen.¡± He said. I felt anger boiling within me. He was the devil, the reason for my pain, my suffering. I instinctively moved to punch him only to fail. My punch passed right through his image. I hated him more than any other. He was responsible for all my pain and suffering. I wanted to reciprocate all of it. ¡°I know you deeply resent me. After all, I¡¯m the cause of your suffering. But I never intended it to be that way. I only wished for a competent Vassal¡± he stated. However I ignored his thoughts and reiterated my attempt to harming him. After an indefinite period of time of my failed attempt to harm him, I calmed down. . ¡°Looks like you''re willing to talk now.¡± ¡°So what now? I¡¯m dead and there seems to be nothing else to do here. Will I be trapped here for eternity?¡± He started to laugh all of a sudden. I again felt angry at him. I knew that interrupting him would make his visit longer so I constricted myself. ¡°No. You''ll be reborn.¡± I was pleased with the outcome of this conversation. I would get another chance at life. But the word reborn struck in my thoughts. He continued ¡°Yeah, reborn. You''ll once again be born as a Chosen One.¡± This was expected. I knew that I had traveled in the realm of the unknown and anything which would happen here would be beyond my imagination. Apparently my conscience was free from the human emotions of panic and shock in here. Thus I could calmly accept these unreal circumstances. Predicting my thoughts again, he smirked ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This time you won¡¯t be my Vassal.¡± Before I could question him any further, I once again found myself fading into oblivion.