My relationship with my father was treasured in a political sense. I remember his constant letters that would increase whenever a ceremony would be dawning near. Despite what some may have thought about his communication with his treasured pawn, never were these letters contained the words of a father.

Since my hatching, I was pinned with the title of “Demon King’s Dragon”, being the only draconic heir in the Morningstar bloodline. It was a name for a pawn, a warmonger, a symbolic figurehead.

This would call for my father’s showing of me. My duty to my family as the third prince would be to stand as a symbol of fearsome power in war, a war monster. And that’s what I chalked up to be. Till recently.

Because of this, I never saw my father as a parentlike figure, nor did he see this relationship as more than a political one. I didn’t mind it. The ones to raise me were Dagon and Adbeel, who treated me more like family than my actual one. That’s why I knew Dagon was serious. But I still couldn’t process it.

“Did Adbeel put you up to this?” I chuckled, nervously. My hands clutched the rock tightly, not daring to let go.

Deep down, I knew Dagon wasn’t lying. I knew. A breathy whisper on the other side made something inside my mind shatter. My third in command never sounded more serious than this moment. It was a tone too vulnerable for a demon, reminding me of my general’s roots.

“The day that you went into the portal…” He paused. I stood still, the information pinning me to the spot, “…was the last time that anyone has seen you in about 100 years.”

Impossible.

“That’s not true…I left about a week ago. You and Adbeel had visited me before I left and.” I stopped, a realization dawning.

Waking up in a forest? Had I ever fallen asleep on a portal trip? I had traversed through portals countless times, never losing consciousness. How long was I dormant? I was too young to fall into a dragon’s sleep, far too young. It just wasn’t possible.

“I woke up a week ago.” I tried to come to grips with the dawning situation, my mind thinking out loud, “That’s all I remember.”

“We tried searching for you. Nearly exhausted our forces doing so. Your second brother helped as well.” His voice was calmer, but I could still hear the concern in his voice.

I’m sure the gravity of the situation would hit me later, but my training to handle dire problems dulled an extreme reaction. That doesn’t mean my mind wasn’t racing.

No. Dare I say that I was numb? I didn’t feel the same emotions as humans, but the pressure was gut-wrenching, all the same.

“…The territory?” I asked, trying to piece together what I had missed, my lost time. I was scrambling for pieces; for anything at this point.

Silence.

“Dagon.”

“The territory is gone,” Dagon admitted his tone was at a loss.

If anything, these words were the heaviest to hear. My territory, the people that I swore to guard, the place where I grew up, and the land that I fought tirelessly to protect. Just like that… It was gone. How?

Dagon continued, “After your disappearance, Adbeel and I ran territory in your absence. It had only been a few weeks, turned into months, then a year passed. That’s when we knew something had gone wrong.”

All I could do was listen.

“Adbeel and I marched into the castle, hunting down the portal master. We questioned him relentlessly, making a scene till we were dragged in front of your father. Young Prince… No. Arsylm, we tried asking your father about your location.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

He didn’t need to verbalize this action for me to understand. I was no longer a prince. That had been revoked from what I feared was long ago. This just confirmed it.

“…What did he say?” I questioned, my voice no louder than a mouse. A question that I feared that I already knew the answer to.

A cold truth.

“Your father refused us. He didn’t blink an eye and instead dragged us to the dungeons for weeks. Arsylm, I have reason to believe that your disappearance was the actions of your father. This is what we suspect once we were able to return to the territory.” Dagon relayed, letting out a loud breath.

My father had done this. The truth was like a dagger, cutting through my being. It was suffocating. Object or not. I was still his son, his blood. He couldn’t throw me away like this. It wasn’t something that I could have imagined, despite our artificial relationship. I was holding onto hope that pouring my everything into his hands would… No.

Was it terrible to say that I wasn’t surprised?

“Dagon. How was the territory lost then?” I skipped over the fact of my father abandoning me. There was nothing I could do about it now. Not right now.

All my mind could sway to were the lives of the demons living on my territory. Besides my soldiers that lived in the tower’s barracks, most of the land inhabitants were lower-class demons. They were no different than the humans here, trying to raise families and working for their earnings. My duty was to protect their mundanity.

“After we returned and after your absence, a civil war broke out. Your disappearance disturbed the territory’s force. Adbeel and I joined forces with your second brother. Sire, it seemed like we had a chance…” He paused as if considering whether he should continue, “…If there’s a god out there, then not even he could have predicted the power that your father still possessed. The territory was wiped out, everything was gone.”

I don’t know if I wanted to hear more. It was because of me. I was the reason. My father had been right about one thing. I was useless, a failure.

A crack from the wall of the moat interrupted this.

“Dagon. I’m in the human territory called Trane.” I quickly whisper, trying to keep my voice low and hushed, “I’m posing as a guard under the crown prince to gain information on ARC, but I have to go.”

Dagon seemed to understand the situation.

“Arsylm. I wish I could tell you everything. But whatever you do… Don’t come back to Hellion.” His voice seemed urgent.

It would be a lie to say that these words didn’t hit hard.

“I’m glad you’re alive.”

All I could do was stare at the moat. My tired gaze focused on the noises from someone climbing up the moat, “Understood Dagon. I’ll call you when I can.” I hung up, shaken and my mind reeled from shock.

It was sinking in. Painfully so. I couldn’t focus properly.

Don’t come back, huh? What was my point in taking this position then? To get information for a father that didn’t want me. A father that slaughtered my territory and its people.

Why?

I could live in the forest, away from humans and responsibilities. My sight could only linger dazed at the emerging group of assassins that sent daggers flying my way.

There wasn’t an attempt made to dodge. The dagger hit the middle of my throat; the cold blade embedded into this fake human flesh. I couldn’t find the will to get up, but I knew that this injury would do nothing. This was a mental injury to me, as I lay still and silent. I was more focused on the reality of everything that I had known, crashing down. It was a reasonable reaction, I suppose.

The force knocked me off my feet, sending my eyes to stare at the stars above. My ears barely pick up the hushed commands of the two assassins.

It was the sky of my new life, right? The stars above Trane shined down upon me, flicking in mockery at my ruins.

Should I just live as a guard? Run away? There was no place for me to return to.

There was a blade in my throat at the moment. It acted like the final mockery of my situation. I could play dead. But I wasn’t dead. Something like this wouldn’t kill me, but I wish it did. All things considered; I feel like this wasn’t my biggest problem at the moment. All it did was piss me off.

“You fool! We weren’t supposed to kill the guards!” One aggressively whispered, their light footsteps coming closer.

“What was I supposed to do? He looked straight at me.” The other assassin justified, seeming agitated at the protest.

“Let’s drag him out of the way,” One of the assassins sighed, walking over to my laying body, and peering over.

We made eye contact, I blinked blankly at the shocked man. I guess… it was too late to play dead.

He pointed, his face pale as he looked over to the other hooded man, “He’s alive…”

Unfortunately.

There was a scoff as the other came over. All I could do was glance at the other hooded man, who dropped his jaw.

“Holy fuck!” They both dropped back, and new knives appeared in their hands, as they braced for combat.

That’s right. I was foolish to forget. I could never live a peaceful life. It simply was against my nature.

Maybe that’s why… Yes. This would be perfect.

I sighed, dusting off the back of my armor as I stood back up. The blade of the dagger hung protruding from the middle of my neck. Tilting my head to the side, I cracked my neck, feeling the blade squirm inside my flesh.

The only difference was that the blood that poured out was black. My eyes glowed, as I glared between the two men. I sighed, reaching up to pull the dagger from my neck and twirling it between my fingers.

I’ll admit, this was a nice blade.

The two men froze, as the wound in my neck started to close, the black blood covering my body in steam, as it evaporated from my blood-covered armor. How long had it been since I allowed myself to be injured?

“…It’s. It’s a monster!” One cried, the new blade in his hand, shaking.

Close enough.

“A monster, huh? Well, I suppose that you’re not wrong.” I commented, my tone was not one of a human.

I stalked closer, never peeling my eyes from the two humans. My prey-like eyes only communicated one thing, “You’ve come at the perfect time. You see, it’s been a pretty shitty day for me. Allow me to take out some of my understandable frustration on you two.”

In the cover of the dark, only the stars illuminated the bloody scene.

Violence.