Deviation Actions
Literature Text
"Who was that guy?" I asked, but Sammy ignored me. "Answer me." I demanded. "Caspiel, why did you come here?" The question took me by surprise, and I didn't answer. "Don't you understand the people on this planet fear, and hate demons? That guy, Jack, he's a demon hunter, if he find out what you are, he will kill you." "So you hate me?" I said, twisting her words. "No, but... You do scare me still." "Why?" "Because you can kill me." She said bluntly. I guess I have to understand that, and she didn't hate me. "Alright, I came here because I had no choice. My sister, Mara, she just took over the throne as queen. She was going to kill me. I didn't want to leave my home behind; I didn't want to go from silk sheets, to straw mat." Sammy was quiet for a moment, than asked, "So, your princess of the underworld?" I shrugged. "I guess; I'm probably not anymore."
"Uh, Madam?" Booti spoke up. I turned to him and saw the egg in front of him; it was moving a good bit. I walked over to it, and I heard it making small noises from inside. I knelt down beside it. One of its talons poked a hole through the shell, and I could see him looking out. I pulled away more of the shell, its head stuck out. It was covered in white down feathers, which were wet, and it had bright yellow eyes. He used his talons to pull himself out of the egg, revealing his lower, lion cub half, and stubby wings. I turned to Sammy, who looked amazed. "What are you going to name it?" Booti asked, looking exited. "I don't know, umm..." "How about Kaiser?" "Doesn't that mean king?" She shrugged, "I don't know, but it's fitting, don't you think."
Kaiser’s feather dried within a few minutes, and he walked within the hour. I fed him bits of meat until he could hunt, which took him only a month to master. He lost all his white down feathers and they were replaced with yellow and orange feathers. In just 3 months, he towered over me. All he had left to do was learn to fly.
Kaiser and I walked to a rocky outcropping in the mountains, Sammy, Ulf, and Booti stayed at the cabin. It was a windy day, and it was even windier up high. "Okay, Kaiser," I said. "You have to run, jump, and then flap your wings." He looked at me like I was an idiot. "Come on, it should be easy because of all the wind." He stared at me for another moment, then turned and walked away from me. "Come on, Kaiser, you have to-" Kaiser blazed by me, and jumped off the cliff. He fell about 30 feet, but then her got air and lifted up into the sky. I chuckled to myself, I must have been more nervous than he was. He banked around and landed on the cliff next to me. I hugged him around the neck, and told him I was proud of him. Then I asked him, "Hey, could I ride you back to the cabin?" Kaiser looked at me a moment, the turned so his side was facing me. I climbed on and he shifted a bit from the extra weight. We jumped off the cliff and soared through the air. It was a wonderful feeling, the wind in my face, and to be free from the earth. Kaiser flew high, very close to the clouds, then lowered until we were only 15 feet above the trees. He landed in an opening in the forest. "Tired?" I asked as I got off. He just laid down and closed his eyes without responding. "Well what am I supposed to do?" No answer. I decided to look around a bit; I had never been to this part of the forest.
After I had poked around a bit, I heard something. Voices were coming through the forest. I crouched down and went closer until I could see who it was. I peered from behind a tree, and seen three men that were talking to one another. I could sense they were demons. “We’ve been looking for a month, and we haven’t found her. She isn’t here!” “We just have to keep looking. She has to be here somewhere.” The other demon told him. "Maybe he's right," The third told him. "Maybe she's been killed, so there's no point in looking." When I heard his voice, I realized he was Pyro. He wasn't wearing his normal outfit; it was more like the stuff the guards wore. I had to get his attention. I took my staff and changed into a hand mirror. I used the glare from the mirror and shined it into his eyes; he squinted a bit and looked in my direction. "Go on ahead," He told the others, "I need to take care of some business." "Alright, don't take to long." One of the others told him. Once they had walked away, I stood and ran to Pyro. Instead of my usual bow, I ran up and hugged his neck, like I did with Kaiser. He completely froze when I did this. "Oh, sorry!" I told him, backing off. He stared at me for a moment, "Caspiel?" He gave me a puzzled look. "Yes?" I answered, not sure why he was giving me that look. "I'm sorry, you just look... different." I ran my fingers through my hair, which was full of twigs, and bits of leaves. I exchanged my silk kimono for a green, cotton one, and I wasn't wearing any sandals. My face was probability a bit dirty from riding. "Oh. Well, it's kind of hard to look like royalty when living in the forest.
By the way, why aren't you wearing your normal outfit?" He didn't answer me. "Pyro, what's happening down there?" He looked surprised that I used his real name. "Listen to me, Caspiel, your sister sent us to find you, and she'll send more." "Why does she want to find me so bad? I don't want the throne; I'm not a threat to her." He answered, "She doesn't want to take chances, and she wants to make an example of you, to scare anyone who does threaten the throne." "Then what do I do?" I asked.
"Look! There she is!" The two demons had returned, and I ran as fast as I could back to Kaiser. "Kaiser!" I yelled, making my way towards him. He woke up and saw me and my pursuers. I climbed onto his back and he began running. He flapped his wings and we were up in the sky. I looked back and saw the two demons in the clearing, and Pyro emerging from the trees. I sighed with relief and rested my chin on Kaiser's neck. "What am I going to do?" I wondered aloud. They'll find the cabin sooner or later, and I can't keep running forever. Maybe if I killed those two, Pyro could just stay here with me. But, then Mara would just send more men, and if those two were even close to as strong as Pyro was, killing them would not be easy. I really just wanted him to stay, not because he would be safe, but because I missed him. He was my only friend in the underworld.
"Come on Caspiel. Focus!" Pyro instructed me. I was exhausted from training. He swung his staff at me, and I actually managed to block it that time. He swung it again and knocked me off my feet. He stood there, with the same disappointed look he always gave me. I got up, incredibly sore. "Caspiel." One of the servants said, poking his head through the door. "What is it?" Pyro asked. "The K-king wants to speak with Caspiel." I walked to the throne room the best I could, and Pyro followed. I entered the throne room and approached my father. "Caspiel, I need you to clean the stables, since the servant didn't show up today, got it?" "But Father, I don't feel like it." He looked very angry; he stood up and grabbed my arm. He raised his hand to strike me; But Pyro grabbed his hand and made him lose his grip on me. "Your Majesty-" "Pyro! What do you think your doing?!" My father yelled. "Your Majesty, she has been training all day, and yesterday. Maybe you could send Mara instead?" "What?" Mara said looking up from her book. My father shook his head. "She needs to learn her place, as do you. Take her to bed, you and I need to have a "talk"." Pyro took me by the hand, and walked me to my bedroom. I climbed into my bed, and Pyro covered me up. "Here," he said as he pulled a doll out of his bag. The doll had red hair, and a blue dress. "I got this from one of the scouts; I thought you might like it." The scouts are some of the few demons that ever leave the underworld, with the king's permission of course. I hugged the doll tightly. "Thank you, Pyro! I-I mean Master." He chuckled, and he turned and closed the curtains. There was no sunlight in the underworld; all we had was the light of the fires, which burn constantly. Pyro kissed me on the forehead. "Goodnight, Caspiel."
Pyro was more of a father to me than my real father was. I was seven then, which was 87 years ago. Kaiser landed gently next to the cabin. Sammy, Booti, and Ulf were having dinner around the fire. "Hey, your back!" I didn't respond. I got off Kaiser and sat near the fire. “Want some soup?” Sammy asked. I shook my head. I didn’t feel like eating. My head was spinning with questions, and no answers to them. Then I remembered something. "Booti," He looked up from his soup. "Y-yes, Madam?" "When you served Pyro, did he ever talk to you to you about things?" "Why, yes madam. All the time." "Then can I ask you something?" "Yes, of course, Madam." "Why was he so kind to me?" Booti was silent for a moment. "W-well you’re the princess, why wouldn't he be kind to you?" He looked down, not wanting to give me the real reason. "He treated me better than my own father did, and he barely seemed to care for Mara. Why?" He was silent again. "He told me never to tell anyone this..." "Please tell me, I need to know." He thought for a moment, and said, "A few months before you were born, Pyro had a wife, and daughter. One day, he got into a nasty argument with the king. His wife and daughter paid the price." I never knew he had a family, and couldn't believe my father would... Well, actually I could. "Why didn't he do anything about it?" "He did." He answered sharply. "He would kill me if he knew I told you this..." I waited. "A week after you and Mara were born, your mother was walking back to the castle from someplace, and Pyro, well..." He was quiet again. I knew what happened without him telling me. But, why didn't kill me, or Mara? Why did he wait until after we were born? "He told me he wouldn't stoop so low to kill a child. He also told me you reminded him of his own daughter." I took a deep breath and stood up. Nobody asked me where I was going. I walked into the cabin, and dug through my pack until I found what I was looking for. I laid down on my mat and hugged the doll tightly to my chest. I slowly drifted into sleep.
