The village of Wehrau lay nestled beside a river cutting through a range of wooded hills. Here, demons lived with humans peacefully.

“Ha… ha…”

A man dressed in a mixture of leather armor and loose-fitting garments ran up a hilly path, with a bucket of water and a bag over his shoulder. His destination was a small, half-timbered building up on a hill, home to the village’s dedicated healer.

Opening the door, the man rushed into the house and made his way to the bedroom.

“Ersham! Just in time!”

A tired woman standing over a bed exclaimed in response to the man’s entrance. On the bed lay the village’s healer, a human woman named Clara, wearing a fatigued yet serene expression. In her arms, she cradled her newborn son, bundled in cloth.

“Here, hand me that, darling.”

The human woman named Helena, who had helped Clara with childbirth, took the supplies from her husband Ersham. The couple watched the graceful woman, their close friend, gently smiling at her newborn.

“Congratulations, Clara. Good job on the birth, that was pretty quick, eh?” said Ersham.

“Oh hush, you,” replied his wife Helena.

Clara listened to their banter, somewhat in a daze out of fatigue, while noting the features of her baby.

“Oh my beautiful son… He has my eyes but his father’s hair…”

The child was born with ashy blonde, almost white hair, a feature unseen among humans but a feature telling a heritage to a certain clan of demons.

“I can tell… he has truly inherited both human and demon blood, hasn’t he?” wondered Ersham.

“Yes. The first of his kind in this village. I pray that everyone welcomes the birth and life of this child,” said Helena solemnly. Half demons were rare in the demonlands; they were often shunned by both humans and demons.

“My son will be strong enough to overcome any fool who may hate him based on his blood. If not… he can always come back crying to his dear mother,” mused Clara playfully. Ersham and Helena chuckled.

“Have you chosen a name for him yet?” asked Helena.

“Hmmh… yes. Just now. He will be named... Luqa! Luqa, did you hear that?” said Clara, drawing her face near her son’s.

In response to this statement, an unknown voice responded to the new mother.

“No, I don’t think that was my name…”

That voice had come from the baby, his clear blue eyes now wide open. He had spoken. And fluently in the demon tongue, Avestic, as well. Ersham and Helena gasped loudly, half in shock and half in fear.

In contrast, the mother squealed in delight, lifting her son up like an offering to the gods.

“Wow! I knew my son would be special! But your mother insists your name will be Luqa, okay?”

***

I have many questions.

I seem to be a baby.

I seem to have a grasp on my own mental faculties.

In fact, I seem to have too much mental development. Even a baby like me could recognize something was up.

Is this some unusual dream of mine? Am I some weird parasite who secretly killed and replaced this mother’s baby in the womb and then forgot about it?

I lay in my cradle, pondering my great questions. Above and in front of me, a brown-haired woman with pale blue eyes, the apparent mother of mine, was eagerly playing peek-a-boo with me. Despite a chilly reception from me, she continued to cover and uncover her face with her hands.

Looks like this woman is the one having fun.

After a couple of minutes, she stopped and stared at me with a puzzled expression.

“Ohhhh Luqa, why won’t you talk again? Think about your poor mother, it doesn’t even have to be words!”

A couple of weeks had passed since my birth and since then I’ve learned to not accidentally talk beyond my years like some cursed child of an evil god. That incident freaked out my mother’s friends present during my birth, yet here she was begging for me to do so again. For some reason, she squealed in excitement like a child whenever I talked.

What a strange woman.

Maybe she’s actually a cruel sorceress and I happened to be a victim, kidnapped, brainwashed and then transformed into a baby by this wicked woman. Maybe her goal was to mentally torture her unknowing victims trapped in the helpless body of an infant, relishing in the conflicting puzzlement her victims felt when she breastfeeds them… or probably not.

“... well, no matter what, I’ll still love you Luqa. You can trust your dear mother.”

Picking me up, she gently cradled me. Now relaxing in her warm embrace, I felt a bit silly for the mental gymnastics that were going on through my head. Slowly, I started to drift into the recesses of sleep.

“I just don’t want to be a weird baby…”

I muttered a random thought as sleep claimed me.

***

It’s been just under three years since I was born. I had come to terms that I was in fact Luqa, son of Clara. As for the matter of why I was born with so much awareness, that would be an object for investigation later.

Mastering the skill of walking within this limited body, I had fully explored the tiny world of this house and seen every sight it had to offer.

“Mother needs to do something important, so I’ll be gone for a bit. Make sure you behave, okay? You know how to read now, so I left a few books over there by the chair, so spend the day learning like a good child!”

“Yes, mom.”

My mother promptly left with a staff wrapped in cloth in hand and a satchel strapped over her shoulder. She was this village’s healer, so she was probably off to help some sick or injured lad.

Waddling my way to the chair, I took a look at the books she had left me.

Sigh. I’ve already read all of these twice.

During the past months, my mother’s been reading books to me, and I picked up on reading one of the languages she spoke to me, Voralten, the language of the humans. Though, she never read anything written in the other language she spoke, Avestic, the language dominantly spoken by the demons of the village. Maybe books written in Avestic were rarer? Or maybe it wasn’t a written language?

In this house, we had a bookshelf filled with all sorts of books, from historical chronicles to fairy tales to treatises on philosophy. During my ample free time as a freeloading child, I scrounged through this whole library, or at least the parts I could reach. Way up high on the shelf were books that my mother was adamant about me not reading, something about the danger of “reading and following the words.” Which just made me want to read them more!

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

I sighed once more, feeling boredom.

Being a child can be boring, really. Must I re-read through these books once more again? Oh, woe is me. Wait… This is an opportunity to go wandering in the village, isn’t it?

My mother had been strict about me wandering the village by myself. Every single time, I’ve been there for only a short time, accompanying her as she went off to run her errands or to heal someone. As far as I knew, we lived in a relaxed, picturesque village inhabited by peace-loving, easygoing folks. I would probably be fine.

OK, it’s been decided. Operation Explore the Village is underway.

Dragging a stool towards the door, I propped myself up and turned the knob, opening the exit to the world outside.

Jumping off, I pushed my way through the door and set afoot outside. Walking through the garden, I started upon the hilly path leading down to the village center by the river. From the slope of this hill, a serene landscape of rolling grasslands and forestry opened itself before me, with cozy houses dotted along the river. Out on the horizon, great jagged mountains stood, sprinkled with snow.

The dirt path I was on eventually merged onto a larger road paved with cobblestones. I was in the village in earnest. On this road, people were headed towards the direction of what was probably the center of the village. A few shot me confused glances. Many avoided my path, as if anxious to get away from me.

What, never seen a three year old before?

Pondering a bit to think about what I wanted to see here, a horned man with grayish skin and sharp eyes drawing a cart went up to me.

“Wait, you’re Ms. Clara’s child, aren’t you? What are you doing here all by yourself?”

Please don’t take me back to my house. Or, maybe… He seems friendly and well-meaning enough, so he can help show me around.

“Um… I wanna see the village, but I’m lost. I don’t leave the house too often so I was just thinking maybe for once…” I said.

“Well, I don’t know how Clara might feel about it…”

Look upon these eyes!

“Mister, I wanna see where all these people are going…” I said while holding onto the hem of his robes and pointing towards the village center.

Would you dare crush a poor child’s dreams before it even has a chance to grow?!

“… I guess I can… Keep it a secret, from your mom, okay?”

Too easy. My charisma is unparalleled.

***

In the village square, the activity of people bustled as wares and goods were traded. Laughter and vibrant conversations filled the air and the scent of delicious food drifted to my nose.

“Well, kid, I gotta set up shop here. I’ll keep an eye on you from here just in case, but be careful anyway when you’re checking out the marketplace. Here’s a little gift, too.”

“Thanks, mister! You’re awesome. I’ll make sure to repay you.”

“Don’t worry about all that! That’s an adult’s job,” he said with a thumbs-up.

Handing me several copper coins, he winked at me. I walked off to check out what this place had to offer as I waved him goodbye. Naturally, I was drawn to where the food was. I was a simple child indeed.

I found myself by a stall with owners who were busy cooking skewers of meat over a grill. The very sight of it made me drool a bit unconsciously. The stall was busy, with quite a number of people lined up to sate their hunger.

“Wait, Luqa? What are you doing here?”

A woman with auburn hair and with two children in tow called out to me. It was my mother’s friend, Helena; I’d grown familiar enough with her during visits to her home.

“Hello, Aunt Helena. I’m hungry, can you help me buy this?” I said pointing to the spit-roasted pieces of meat. My priorities were in order.

***

Deep within the forests, two brave adventurers faced off against a large serpent.

“How could a dangerous monster from the Black Forest slip by our notice? Think we can deal with this just by ourselves?” asked the swordsman.

“We’ve no choice. We’re barely an hour’s walk away from the village and this thing is most certainly out to target the people there as food. Besides, we can definitely beat this thing by ourselves,” the mage responded with a grin.

“Welp, if you say so. Let’s see if I’ve gotten rusty. Back me up while I grab its attention.”

The swordsman drew his sword and rushed forwards, weaving and dodging through the serpent’s sudden lunge. The monster’s underbelly was vulnerable, and the swordsman attempted to carve the monster’s underbelly open, but the monster shifted to protect its squishiest parts.

The motions of his curved sword left only shallow cuts. He jumped backwards to avoid the serpent’s head-whip, and the mage, seeing her own opening, let loose her magic.

“[Stone Javelin]!”

Long, sharp projectiles made of stone gathered in front of the mage and went flying towards the monster. Some disintegrated as they hit the tough scales of the serpent, but a couple hit the mark, piercing it, drawing blood and causing the serpent to grow even more aggressive, whipping its head and tail wildly.

The swordsman expertly jumped to avoid the tail whip of the serpent, running towards the head of the serpent while making cuts on the side of the serpent’s body. Reaching the head, the swordsman ran his sword through the serpent’s eye.

Furious, the large serpent lifted his head up into the air. Taken along up in the air, the swordsman abandoned the sword impaled into the snake that he held tightly on and stepped backwards, moving beside the mage.

“Watch out, Ersham, get behind me!”

The mage moved in front of the swordsman while the serpent had opened its mouth. A vile, toxic breath spewed from his mouth, targeting the two.

The mage in response brought her staff down.

“[Barrier]!”

A barrier of light surrounded the two, protecting them from the poisonous breath of the serpent. Seeing its breath handily dealt with, the serpent stopped, looked disinterested at the two with its remaining eye and slithered away from them. More quickly than the mage and the swordsman expected.

“Wait, he’s headed towards the village!”

“Shit! He’s moving too fast, how the hell do we catch up?!”

“…Get to the river, I have a plan.”

The swordsman internally groaned, too familiar with what the mage would suggest.

***

I was sitting down by a table with the two children that were with Helena. One was a young girl probably around the same age as me, or maybe slightly older. I recognized her, though I didn’t know her name.

She was the daughter of Helena, sharing features such as her auburn hair and green eyes, though something unusual, almost magical in nature about her eyes hinted that she wasn’t fully human like her mother. I had seen her a couple of times during occasional visits to Helena’s place, though interactions had been limited to wandering glances at each other.

Seated beside her was a boy I hadn’t seen before, much older and taller than me. In some ways, he resembled Uncle Ersham, another close friend of my mother’s as well as Helena’s husband. Besides his sharp, prideful face and dark hair, he shared the same general features as the horned demons of this village, bearing growing horns and a grayish complexion, so he was most definitely a demon. The distinction between human and demon was something I learned very early on. Or maybe it was something I’ve known since birth?

“Hey, nice to meet ya! I’m Tavarius, but you can call me Var if you want. My name’s pretty hard to say,” said the boy with a grin.

“Nice to meet you, Var. My name’s Luqa.”

“And this little girl over here is my cousin, Lucia. She’s kinda shy, but she’s nice. Also scary sometimes,” Tavarius pointed to the quiet girl beside him.

“Hello, Luqa.”

Lucia looked me in the eyes and promptly nodded before looking away.

“How old are ya, Luqa?” Tavarius asked.

“I think I’ll be turning three years old this year, if I remember correctly…”

“Really? Ya don’t talk like it, man!” Tavarius chuckled at his remark. It was hard to disagree with what he said.

“Here’s the food, everyone. Could you help me, Tavarius?”

Helena walked over to us, carrying quite the amount of food and Tavarius stood up to help her serve it to us. In front of me, Helena place down a warm sandwich filled with thin slices of spit-roasted meat and pickled vegetables.

Mother, where has food like this been these past three years? No offense to your cooking though.

Helena watched as us three children ate our food eagerly. She glanced especially at me.

“Did you go to the village by yourself, Luqa?” she tenderly asked me.

“Well, yes. To be honest, I haven’t really seen much of the village myself, and my mother was off somewhere, so I figured.” Helena had gotten used to my admittedly non-childlike way of mannerisms, so I wasn’t quite reserved on speaking my mind to her.

“Oh Luqa, your mother’s just trying to protect you…” Helena said with a sigh.

“What do you mean? This village is pretty safe, isn’t it? I saw a lot of kids playing around here amongst themselves.”

“That’s not it. Keep in mind that you’re somewhat… of a special case.”

Ah. That.

I’ve been sheltered for the past three years, so I forgot. The reason some bystanders had looked at me with melancholy or with scorn. I was neither a full-blooded human nor full-blooded demon. I was a half-demon. As inherently magical beings, demons could sense whether someone before them was another demon. I was a contradiction. To them, I stood as a strange exception, and their senses couldn’t fully deduce what I was with one quick survey. To humans, something in the air about me as well as my hair gave away a non-human heritage.

Even though I’m a child, I can’t be naive about that. People foolishly fight over differences even pettier than my own differences.

“Sorry, I forgot about that for a moment. A half-demon like me is a weirdo to everyone here, aren’t I? You’re right, I should be more careful about being here.”

Helena looked at me with a conflicted expression.

“No, that’s not what I meant. In fact, I should be sorry. A child like you shouldn’t have to worry about something so senseless. Some people, humans and demons included, can be so… irrational at times about what they don’t know. Don’t pay people like that in mind.” Helena chose her words carefully.

“Yea, you’re not a weirdo.” An unexpected comment came from Lucia, Helena’s daughter.

"You’re just like me!” she continued. She was a half-demon as well, though she could easily be mistaken for a human.

“Don’t worry about being a half-demon and all that, Luqa. That ain’t what matters.” Tavarius spoke up as well.

Oh, great. I’m being reassured by children. Well, I guess I’m a child, too. And the reassurance feels a bit comforting, to be honest.

Helena went back into silence. She watched the three children get along, now bantering with each other, with a smile on her face. But suddenly, a crash from somewhere interrupted the peaceful day. Screams and cries arose from the people of the marketplace.

“Monster!”

A serpent-like beast came slithering down from the hills towards the village, and instinctively a smirk crept onto my face as if hungrily awaiting excitement from what would play out before me.