As dawn broke across the east, the first rays of sunlight burst through the Great Ocean Wall—painted gold just like this age. The first emperor had commanded the waves to rise towards the heavens, forming a vertical barrier by the very waters of its namesake. These uncharted waters formed the greatest defense to the Human Realm against the demonic threat. No demon had ever possessed the power to breach the ocean wall since its establishment.
Until now.
***
Sunset descended to the west, and the ever-shifting waters were tinged an ominous scarlet. For the two figures who took a leisurely stroll, basking in the dying light, the reddened hues were nothing short of romantic.
"Isn't it beautiful?" breathed the woman as she clasped the hand of her husband in her own. Their worn skin told the toil that had been shared throughout their lives in the forlorn, frontier village at the edge of the world. Despite their middling age, the couple never did manage to have children of their own. Even so, they did their best to find fulfillment with just the two of them.
As the sun sank into the horizon, the man drew his wife closer and placed a kiss on her head. "Let's head home,” he suggested as the last light of day gave into dusk. The final vestiges of red were brushed away by the darkening sky.
Most humans across the empire respected and feared the night, the time in which demonic forces reached their height. Though a demon itself could not cross the barrier, they could project dark energy—wisps of their power—to manipulate human minds to do their bidding. Without intervention, their hosts eventually devolved into savage beasts. However, as their people were known for their talent as beast whisperers, the couple had little to fear themselves.
Not a worry crossed their minds as they took a path through the dark woods. Until they heard a wail. The sudden, reeling sound chilled them down to the bone, especially as the inhuman cry mimicked the helplessness of a baby. The husband and wife looked into each other's widened eyes where they held an unspoken understanding. We have to help it.
"Let's search the area, but stay close," the man said.
The two of them scoured the trees to locate the baby hidden within the underbrush.
"Where are you?" the woman called, keeping her voice even to hopefully signal to the terrified child that everything would soon be alright. Her search was brought to a halt at an overgrowth of brambles. The agitated screams seemed to come from within, so the woman scanned the dark bushes.
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A violent, thrashing movement caught her eye first. There, she saw a child with pallid skin as if drained from blood. Equally colorless hair had twisted around the branches where his arms were hung. This toddler looked hardly old enough to wander far on his own, yet he had somehow managed to ensnare himself in the thickets.
"Oh God," the woman gasped when her constricting pupils took in the sight of his pitiful state. Thorns were embedded in the child's skin from the struggle. The boy had been yowling and thrashing, but now that she stood in front of him, he finally stilled. His weak head lifted to acknowledge the new arrival. Though his pupils were as pale as the rest of him, the whites of his eyes had turned red from crying.
"Dear!" she called to her husband. "Over here! I found the child."
The man rushed over and gasped when he witnessed the sorry state of the toddler for himself. "I don't know how a little kid ended up out here or how he got himself caught in this mess."
His attention shifted to the child which he needed to rescue from the thickets. Instinctually, the man tried to speak in a soothing tone like his wife. "It's alright." The man drew a knife and snapped through the branches with help from the blade. "I've got you." Gently, he swung the boy into his arms and carried the limp form from the brambles like a sack. Once he got close enough to his wife, he passed the child into her arms.
"You're safe now," she cooed and stroked the side of his head. Whenever she found something sharp in his hair, she plucked out the briars. Much to her bewilderment, the woman noticed that close to his scalp were some small, red shards—too sharp to be dried blood.
"We need to take him back with us and treat his injuries. His parents must be worried sick…" her husband said, but his voice seemed to grow fainter as she became transfixed by the condition of the small boy.
The woman's fingers passed over a jagged section of the boy's skull. Her skin ripped as though she had just caressed her fingertips over broken glass. "Ow!" she yelped from surprise.
"What is it?" the man asked, clumsily plowing through the rest of the briars to join at her side.
She inadvertently ignored her husband, too engrossed by the condition of the child. The pain which he experienced must dwarf a single, pricked finger a thousand times over. His poor, little head…. When she parted his hair and examined the spot, the base of broken horns was revealed. Her lips parted from shock as she continued to stare absently.
Though her husband gently touched his wife's arm, his voice still sounded far away. "Hopefully, the parents will come to town when they're looking for him."
"No one…" she said slowly. "No one is coming for this boy."
"What do you mean?" The man wrapped his arms around his wife's shoulders and leaned in to have a closer look at the child. When his eyes fell upon the broken horns, the man whispered, "It's a demon."
"No," the wife whispered, shaking her head as she gazed down at the poor child in her arms—exactly what she always wanted. The woman's hope-filled eyes flashed up to her husband as she said, "I think he's a miracle." Her words hung in the air, needing more time to sink in for her husband.
The child had no one else to care for him, and this couple had none of their own. For those who could not have children, it was unimaginable how parents—even demon parents—could abandon their own baby in another realm so hostile to them. The couple planned to raise the demon baby in their home as if he were their own, as if he were human.