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Point to note: This is the last chapter of Part One. Chapter Seven They both stared in horror at the figure in front of them, which seemed much calmer than they. In fact, the demon before them let out a sigh of relief, and sat down in the chair in the corner. "For a minute, I was afraid that you were the Mistress' soldiers. But you're only humans." The demon laughed at the thought. "Only humans . . . you've really become one, haven't you?" Gary and Kali stared in awe at the demon, who smiled. "Hello, my name is Brigitte." The demon did not have a scratchy, snake-like voice. Her voice was more human than demon, it seemed. However, the demon appeared to be a born-demon. Brigitte noticed their stares and laughed again. "I don't bite." Kali blushed while Gary glared. "Most demons do." The cheerful expression on the demon's face disappeared. "I'm not most demons." "Then do tell, what are you?" he inquired. "I am simply a demon who is different. I do not wish to live the scavenger way of life as most born-demons, yet I do not wish to live the life of a half-demon." She snorted. "Pitiful little things they are." "So then what are you?" Kali asked gently. "I am neither a born-demon or a half-demon. I am both." They stared at her questioningly. "Enough of who I am, what are you doing, trespassing on my property?" "You live here?" Kali asked. "Occasionally." "But we're in a hologram. Are you real?" "I know nothing of a hologram. But I am real." Gary decided that Kali would get further with the demon than he would, so he leaned against the wall and let them talk. "So . . . why live here, in all places?" "It's beautiful outside. I come here often to enjoy the view." "What view? It's a desert outside!" The demon looked at her wearily. "So, you are trapped within one of Nwon-Knu Setsrim's holograms. I am not surprised. Many travelers come to this fate." "Nwon-Knu Setsrim?" Kali asked. "The evil sorceress in the valley. That is the demon's name for her." Gary looked at Kali. "You're mother." "Interesting name . . ." Kali stated. "Nwon-Knu is your mother?" the demon asked, surprised, while moving to the water basin. "No and yes. According to Gary here, she kidnapped me, and I have been raised with her since I was . . . very young." The demon was not surprised. "Many have been raised as you have." "The half-demons?" Kali asked. "Yes. How old are you?" "Oh, I'm fifteen, I think. I lost track of time long ago. Oh, and I'm Kali, by the way." "Pleased to meet you, Kali." "I think you should know this. The other day, Nwon-Knu, as you call her, tried to turn me into a half-demon. But I slipped on the rocks. I possess electrical powers, so she was trying to strike me with lightning." Kali shuddered. "When I slipped, I was only half-way in the lightning, so I am not a full half-demon. I'm a human with electrical powers, as weird as it sounds." Brigitte looked slightly amused. "I have heard of you." She opened a cupboard Kali had not noticed and took out a mug. "Rumors spread quickly, even when you live alone. What of your friend here? I know he possesses powers of the wind. I felt his cool wind on my back while out hunting." Kali looked at Gary, who was gazing at the demon. He turned to Kali and nodded, not in the mood to talk. "He discovered his powers when he was young, playing outside one day. He has not told me anything other than that day." Brigitte nodded. "I see. That is very interesting. I wonder . . ." Brigitte gazed at Gary. "Could he be?" "Could he be what?" "There is a legend," Brigitte began softly, "of a person like you. Nwon-Knu was going to transform her into a demon, but this demon would have been one of the fire element instead of electricity. In any case, Nwon-Knu had tied this girl to a pole, like in the Salem Witch Trials. She was going to burn her alive. Obviously, this would not have killed the girl, who didn't understand at all and was screaming for her life. Her screams were answered by a young sorcerer nearby. He saved her just as the fire reached her knees, giving her fire powers like your electric ones. "The two fell in love and started a family, building a home in a cliff full of magical caverns. They had a daughter and a son, but the would-have-been-fire-demon grew tired of the wilderness and desperately longed for the normal life she had never gotten. They decided that the father would raise their son, and the mother would raise the daughter in the city. No one knows of what has happened to the family, some say that it is just a legend or prophesy." Kali listened intently to what the demon had to say. "Very interesting legend. What do you think of it?" she asked Brigitte. "I do not know that it is true. I have only heard this, never seen hide nor hair of anyone from the story. But," she paused, dipping her mug into the water basin and taking a sip, "with all I have seen, I do believe that it is possible that this story is true." Kali looked at Gary, who was staring at the floor intently. His brows were knit together, making it look at though he was trying to solve a very difficult puzzle. Finally, after a couple of minutes of staring at the floor, Gary looked up to see two faces gazing at him wonderingly. "Well, as much as we'd love to stay, Kali and I must be going. We're on our way to the city." Brigitte nodded. "Of course. But you have been walking many nights and days, and you both need a rest." Noticing the confused look on Kali's face, Brigitte added, "The hologram you were in distorted time, to. You could not see the difference between night and day unless Nwon-Knu wanted you to." Kali noticed that her body suddenly felt extremely tired. "You can sleep on my bed, if you like. I've got some blankets from the city for myself and Gary, if he doesn't mind sleeping on the floor?" Gary shook his head. "Okay. We can set out in the morning." ***** Kali wearily opened one eye and looked around the room. It took her a minute to remember her surroundings. She was in the middle of the forest on the way to the city, even though the hologram she was in showed the desert. Briefly wondering if she had gone through any trees since the hologram had shown a vast wide-open space, certainly the opposite of a dense forest. Sitting up in bed, she opened her other eye. Brigitte was cooking over an open fire with a pot Kali had not noticed before, with her back turned away from Kali. Gary was still asleep in the corner, sleeping on a bed of sharp looking straw and grass. "You've finally woken up, I see," Brigitte stated, turning around. "Yes." "You have been sleeping for a couple days, now." "Really?" Kali replied, rubbing sleep from her eyes and brushing her hair out of her face. "Gary, too?" Brigitte glanced over at Kali. "He's a very sound sleeper. How long have you been traveling?" Kali hesitated. "You remember that storm?" Brigitte nodded. "With the hail, and that horrible lightning, and that horrible scream? The day you were struck?" Kali stared at her. "How--? How long has it been since then?" "About two weeks." "That's a long time." "Yes. But, I believe, we should be going soon." Brigitte turned and finished whatever she had been making and poured it into three containers Kali did not recognize. They were not made of clay, like all the pots in Kali's own home, or Gary's home. Noticing Kali's interest, she said, "These are thermoses. I found them in the city. The keep whatever you put in them hot or cold," while screwing on the last lid. Kali gazed at the thermos that Brigitte handed her. "Where are we going daddy?" "We are going on a picnic. Here, hold this while I go get the basket." "What is it?" "It's a thermos, it keeps food at the temperature you want it to be at." Kali shook herself, then noticed Brigitte staring at her. "Are you okay?" Rubbing her forehead, Kali replied, "I'm fine." "What happened?" a voice in the corner asked. "Good morning, Gary," Brigitte said, still looking at Kali with interest. Puzzled, Gary stood up and looked at Kali, too. "What?!" Kali glanced at the two figures before quickly deciding to change the subject, still confused to their interest in her. "Shouldn't we be going now?" "Yes," Gary replied, taking a thermos from Brigitte. "How did you get these thermoses, anyway?" Smiling, Brigitte only said, "You'll see." As the trio left Brigitte's home, Kali asked, "Oh, by the way, what is a picnic?" ***** Overhead, the sky was a black void. No stars shown, obscured by dark clouds that threatened the lower hills. It was a new moon. The only light was the fire that the three travelers had made. They had stopped as night began to fall, and were currently resting on a cliff overlooking the city. Kali had been surprised at the time they had made. "You would have been here sooner if you had not been in Nwon-Knu's hologram. You were walking in circles," Brigitte told them. "We should reach the city tomorrow afternoon, if we start out at sunrise," Gary stated. Kali just pulled the blanket that Brigitte had brought along with her around herself tighter and scooted closer to the fire. Examining the demon once more, Gary asked, "What are you going to do once we reach the city?" "I don't plan on turning back, if that's what you're asking," she replied, stirring the fire with her stick. "Then what do you plan to do?" Gary asked. "Can't you just wait and see?" Brigitte stood up and picked up another blanket. "I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning." She sat down and curled into sleep. Gary looked at Kali, to make conversation with her, but she was already snoring soundly. |