A DEMONS prequel short story

About two years ago, after having completed the first draft of DEMONS I: The Birth of Magic, I wrote a short story to enter into a short story competition. It's called DEMONS: Fall of the Fearless. It follows two characters from the novels, written in the first-person* as a personal account from Neve, about how she met her mentor and partner, Komorebi. It takes places before the events of DEMONS I, so it's essentially a mini-prequel.

And I've published it below for free, as a taster for the novels.

Before publishing it on here, I made some changes to it. Firstly, before I decided to go the YA (Young Adult) crossover route (meaning suitable for young adults as well as adults), the implications of the women's being sold into slavery was much more grim (implications of sexual slavery) - following advice from my editor, I toned this down to non-sexual (regular?) slavery. Secondly, as it'd been two years, and as my writing's improved since then, I made a few small improvements throughout (although to be honest, I probably left 95%+ of it untouched).

There's some minor content warnings (which are also minor spoilers, so feel free to skip):

• A group of women are sold into slavery (they're tricked into thinking it's just temporary servitude in order to repay debts) and told they will likely be killed if they try to retaliate and/or escape. They are rescued before it happens, however.
• There's a lot of 'off-screen' violence, with the suggestions that many individiuals (bandits) are killed. The details and descriptions are light.
• The only gory description (which isn't that gory) is when someone is impaled and killed with a sword.
• Minor swearing ("godsdammit").
• Minor references to drinking alcohol.

* Important note: if you like this then please bear in mind that while this short story is written in the first-person, the main trilogy is written in the third-person with multi-character perspectives.

My name is Neve Goldarishh. I’m a half-orc, hailing from the Kingdom of Grandaga. I’m a bounty hunter in training. This is a personal account of how I met my mentor: Kaze Komorebi.

Having spent a good number of years on the run from my mother’s orc tribe (a long story for another time), my father and I decided it would be safest if we went our separate ways, while – despite that – trying our best to keep in contact with each other. After all, an older male human and a younger half-orc woman hanging out together tends to... stick out. But on our own, we’re just two people. Much less conspicuous.

I ended up in the city of Darkestfalls: ‘Grandaga’s cesspit’ was its... not-so-polite moniker. ‘Grandaga’s armpit,’ I used to joke – even less politely. Unfortunately, I would have to concur with the sentiment. It’s an old mining town that grew into a city, sat within a valley surrounded by tall mountains, which didn’t offer much in the way of sunlight. Three rivers cut through it, each turning into booming waterfalls at different points. Hence: Darkestfalls. It would’ve had a bit of charm to it, were it not for the fact that the mines’ ore veins had dried up… because with that, the miners moved out – and the criminals moved in.

Other cities in the kingdom – Grandaga City and Jhaero’s Landing, to name just two – are much safer and better policed than our poor Darkestfalls.

I visited a friend – Alzenya – a half-elf who once helped my father and I on our travels. She helped us to escape the tribe one time, when they were close to catching up to us. I owed her. Big time.

Since then, sadly, her luck had turned a little sour. When I finally met up with her, I’d learnt that she was in considerable debt – and that in an attempt to repay it, she’d fallen in with a bad crowd.

I won’t spend too long detailing how Alzenya and I ended up in the... ugh... ‘company’ (though some might say ‘possession’) of the dwarven crime boss ‘Fearless’ Harmur Rockbleeder – suffice to say that in order to clear the remainder of her debt, Alzenya (reluctantly) agreed to be ‘sold off’ to a noble family as a servant for a time. Slavery is outlawed in the kingdom, and has been for quite some time, but obviously it was given another name (‘servantry’) – and yet it was near-enough a form of slavery all the same. I was with her at the time that this proposition fell her way, and the thugs involved in the deal decided that I should be included, too. You’d think I would’ve put up a fight in retaliation – but instead I relented and agreed to it. However, I did so for one crucial reason: I had a plan. I’d smuggled a small sharp blade in my clothes, and when the timing was right, I would use it to try and secure our freedom – whether that meant cutting through our bonds, using it as a weapon against our captors, or maybe even both. Clearly the thugs underestimated us, because they didn’t even think to give me a proper pat-down.

Eventually we found ourselves in the underground haven of the ‘Fearless’ Mister Rockbleeder himself. He had a secret hideout below a tavern that he owned – named “‘Fall’s End,” as it was situated next to one of the waterfalls – which he used as his base. Rumour had it that he was once a high-up member of one of the most notorious bandit clans the kingdom had ever fallen victim to. After the bandit clan disbanded, he ended up in Darkestfalls, and established himself as a bit of a crime lord. Most dwarves possess long hair and long beards, typically both braided – but not our Rockbleeder… He had his hair cut short, and his beard shaped into a fashionable moustache and goatee. He wore clothes that were as expensive as they were garish. He was a through-and-through creep – and a through-and-through scumbag to boot.

I was sat next to Alzenya, and alongside us were two more women. All four of us had been required to wear ridiculous, revealing dresses – each a different colour – with masquerade ball masks to match. I was in red, Alzenya in green, while the other women – two humans – were in purple and blue. Our hands were bound behind our backs, to ‘make sure we behave’, they said. We were sat at the back of the room, behind Rockbleeder and his desk. Stood in silence in the opposite corners of the room were two armed brutes: one was a human with a shaved head and an eyepatch, while the other was a lizardperson with reddish scales. The double doors ahead of us were closed. Rockbleeder sat at his desk, tending to paperwork. We’d been led here and asked to sit and wait – and told to ‘look pretty’ while we did so. Charming.

Above and to the side of Rockbleeder’s desk, long tubes ran from the ceiling and ended just above his desk at head height, their bottoms curved and capped with cork plugs. Five in all. I wasn’t sure of their purpose – until I heard a noise from one of them, leading to Rockbleeder removing its cap. It was hard to make out clearly – especially due to the distant, echoing sound of the nearest waterfall humming in the background – but a voice could be heard coming from it...

“Almost ready to transport the cargo,” it said – a gruff-sounding, manly voice. “Just waiting on the carriage to arrive, in order to ship the goods.”

Rockbleeder smiled. “Yes, yes, great!” he shouted back into it in elation. “Thanks for the update.”

Wow! A system that allowed someone to communicate within a building and across distance. Impressive! That’s rather fancy technology for our time. I mean, I hated this guy – let me get that straight – but I had to hand it to him: it was pretty clever.

Then he turned to us and gave us a sleazy grin.

“You hear that, ladies? Not long now. Onto your... ‘assignment’, where you’ll be serving drinks at a noble’s ball, then given other tasks from there.”

“‘Other tasks’?” my friend Alzenya attempted to clarify. “Can I ask... how long will we be doing work for this noble family for? When will we be returning to Darkestfalls?”

Rockbleeder’s laugh in response seemed unusual at first, but then made perfect sense when he next spoke. “Oh, sweetheart... You’re not coming back. You’re theirs for good. You’ll be staying there indefinitely. Don’t you get it?”

As he spoke to us, his breath landed on my face. The smell of it nearly made me gag.

“B-But...” one of the other two women uttered. “But I thought we were working at a party first, and then doing some other servant duties, and that’s it?”

“Heh... Are you really that naïve?” Rockbleeder tut-tutted.

She looked mortified at his implication. The other woman next to her began to sob.

It dawned on us now. We weren’t just going to be temporary servants... but permanent slaves.

“But... We could just escape?” I blurted out. Rockbleeder stared at me, his face fixed into a snarl. “Or tell one of the guests about what’s going on?”

His reaction surprised me. He dropped the snarl and simply laughed even more.

“Oh, ladies...” he said mostly as a sigh. “The person you’ll be a ‘servant’ for makes me look like a kitten. With guards much more menacing than mine. You so much as whisper out-of-line, and you’ll be dead before you can say ‘wait, I take it back’!” The last few words came out mostly as an evil cackle. Then his laughing ceased immediately, and he turned to face me specifically.

“...And if one of you steps out of line, he might just kill two of you – for fun. Remember that if you try anything funny. You’re not just putting yourself at risk, y’know...”

The two human women continued to sob. Alzenya gently placed her head onto my shoulder.

“Oh Gods, Neve... What have we gotten ourselves into?” Alzenya whispered, in a tone suggesting an admission of defeat and a resignation to our fate.

“Don’t worry... We’ll get out of this...” I replied softly in an attempt to comfort her. I’d like to say I spoke with confidence, but it was meek at best – I was worried about our situation as well, after all. I assumed Rockbleeder must’ve missed my comment, as he turned back around and tended to his paperwork once more, not giving me – or us – another thought.

The small blade I had snuck in was still in my possession, even in this laughably impractical dress I’d been forced to wear. Thankfully, for all its impracticality, it had a large ribbon just below the bust, and I was able to place it in there, hidden and tucked behind the bow. However, we had since had our hands bound – behind us. Meaning that I couldn’t reach for the blade on my own – unless I was somehow able to slide my hands below my bottom, then below my legs, and then in front of me. If not, then my only option was to ask Alzenya or one of the other women to grab it from me for me, and from there we could try to cut our bonds of thick ribbon. But they didn’t even know I had it on me – no one did but me. Telling them to reach for it would be risky, and likely overheard by Rockbleeder and his goons. By the time my fellow captives grabbed the blade and we’d cut through our bonds, someone would likely react. It was very risky.

I had to time this just right...

“Any further updates, Vielyn?” Rockbleeder barked into the same tube as before. His voice sounded gleeful, matching the venomous smile he held. “Vielyn? Vielyn...?”

His look of joy slowly changed to one of confusion and then frustration. “Vielyn, report in – I demand that you respond. Vielyn!”

He let out an angry huff. “Probably taking a break, the useless layabout...” Rockbleeder spoke this aloud, and it was obviously for our benefit, but he did not turn to address us this time. He hesitated, and then uncovered one of the other tubes.

“Kraldrorg, any idea where Vielyn is?”

“Boss, we’re dealing with a problem up here,” a different voice said in reply – presumably that of Kraldrorg’s. It was subtle, but I could hear a hint of anxiousness in its delivery.

“A problem? What type of problem?!” Rockbleeder demanded to know.

“Some guy causing trouble – I think he’s trying to—” the voice was cut off by a scream.

Rockbleeder’s eyes widened, and his past expressions of joy, confusion and frustration were now replaced by one of much concern.

“An... intruder?” he said to himself.

The two thugs at the opposite side of the room glanced at each other. They placed their hands on the hilts of their weapons.

“N-No no! You wait right here! Don’t go anywhere! That’s an order!” Rockbleeder yelled at them. They looked back at him and nodded.

Rockbleeder uncovered another of the tubes and spoke into it. “Zartaag, report in! What’s going on?”

“We’re under attack, boss! I think he’s killed Vielyn and Kraldrorg...”

“Who is it?! Give me a description!” Rockbleeder blasted out, banging the palm of his hand onto his desk.

“I... I can’t tell. A man on horseback? No... Wait… It’s a—” Zartaag’s voice wailed and then fell silent.

Rockbleeder’s face twisted itself into a look of pure perplexment.

“A man on horseback?!” he repeated back to himself. “But a man on horseback wouldn’t be able to fit in the…”

Rockbleeder’s face then turned ashen.

“Oh no…” he said. He paused for a moment – as if held in place by a state of panic – before frantically pulling off all the caps covering all the other tubes.

“Ragg? Gnawer?! What’s your status?”

Silence.

“Report in, godsdammit! What’s your status?!”

At this point, Rockbleeder was screaming into the tubes in anger. He sounded terrified, and yet somehow also infuriated that the problem simply wasn’t going away.

A weak voice could be heard from one of the tubes.

“H-He’s…”

There was the sound of a loud grunt as well as the unmistakable sound of blade penetrating flesh. I grimaced at the thought. This grunt could not only be heard through the tube, but also very faintly outside the room.

“Gnawer? Gnawer?!”

One of the corner goons – my new nickname for them – spoke up.

“Boss… I think we should—”

Rockbleeder instantly shushed him.

“Be quiet! He might hear us…”

Everyone in the room fell silent. Just moments later, the sound of hooves and clunking metal filled the outside hallway. The corner goons drew their weapons in preparation for whatever was headed our way. Rockbleeder’s face was as pale as a ghost.

Alzenya and I looked each other. Was this the sound of hope? A potential rescuer?

Or would we be killed as well?

I wanted to think it would be the former – but I kept thinking of the blade I had hidden on me, just in case it was unfortunately the latter…

“There he is!” a voice outside announced. More of Rockbleeder’s men. Reinforcements, perhaps? “Surrender now or—” The sentence was cut off by the sound of the slashing of swords and the cries of those falling to them. A loud thud hit the door, causing it to shake. Rockbleeder jumped so high I honestly thought he would hit the ceiling. He gestured towards the corner goons.

“Go! GO! Kill him, godsdammit!”

They looked at each other with worried glances, as if they’d just been handed a death sentence. However, a moment later, their faces were filled with a determined resolve, and they burst through the door and rushed out into the hallway. A body that had been slumped against the door collapsed into the room as the door was opened. It was covered in blood and very much still. Just seconds later, the sounds of the corner goons’ cries echoed through the hallway and reached into the room. They were louder than the others we’d previously heard, given that the door was now open.

I could also feel... a gentle breeze blow into and through the room. Again, probably due to the door being open. Given the circumstances at that moment, I could see someone like Rockbleeder finding it chilling, but I found it... calming. Strangely comforting.

After that… there was nothing but silence. Rockbleeder hid very bravely behind his desk. It was hard to tell if the moment of quiet lasted for seconds, minutes or hours. It felt eternal. Enough time passed that Rockbleeder wondered if the intruder had either been killed or retreated. There was no more screaming. No more sounds of blades hitting blades or armour or flesh. No more clunking of heavy armour. No more hooves. Nothing.

“H-Hello…?” Rockbleeder called out, as meek as a mouse. “Arn? Irnuax? …Is he dead?”

With the carefulness of a cat, Rockbleeder walked around the desk and stood in front of it, slowly approaching the open door ahead of him. The four of us watched on.

Now was the time.

I leant over to Alzenya and whispered to her. “Listen. I have a blade behind the bow on my dress.” I looked down in the direction of the bow, indicating where I meant. “Now’s our chance. Grab it, hand it to me, and I’ll cut us loose.” She looked at me in pure surprise and confusion.

“Wait… What did you say…?”

Rockbleeder turned to me with a look of fury on his face. Apparently, I wasn’t quiet enough…

Then he saw our facial expressions look in awe towards the door, behind him. Even behind the masks we were wearing, he could interpret our reaction.

He turned, looked, and shrieked.

Towering above him stood a centaur – half person, half horse – wearing a type of heavy armour I’d never seen in my whole lifetime. I would later learn that it was splint armour, and that it was the kind of armour worn by a type of warrior known as a ‘samurai’ – supposedly his adoptive human father was a samurai, and he bestowed the armour onto him upon his death. He also wore a matching helmet in a roughly triangular shape, without a face covering. From beneath the helmet, I could see long black hair protrude. He held two curved swords – katanas – one longer than the other, the longer of which he held in his right hand. They were covered in blood.

Despite having just broken into the heavily-armed compound of a crime boss who lorded over a scummy city, two other details struck me of note: firstly, he didn’t seem to have a single scratch or injury on him; and secondly, he looked completely calm and focused.

Centaurs are a rare sight these days. And samurai are also a rarity. So, to see a centaur decked out in samurai armour was indeed an incredibly unique sight.

“Harmur Rockbleeder,” he said with authority. “I have come for you.”

Rockbleeder stepped back but lost his footing, stumbling onto the floor behind him. His breathing was shallow, a light panting. A fearful panting.

He really didn’t live up to his ‘Fearless’ nickname…

“H-Horse-boy…” he uttered in mild terror. “What are you doing here?”

“Drop the act,” the centaur – who I later knew to be named Komorebi – responded without hesitation. “You know why I’m here... You were a member of the Black Howl.”

Komorebi stepped forward, closing the gap, while Rockbleeder – still on the floor and on his posterior – crawled backwards and up against the front of the desk, which halted his pathetic attempt at retreat.

“It... It was a long time ago, horse-boy...” he tried to explain through an obviously panicked tone. “I’ve... umm... I’m a changed man now!”

The four of us watched in silence as Komorebi lowered the longer of his two katanas and placed it in front of Rockbleeder’s face, the tip of which came close to penetrating the skin on his neck. Rockbleeder gasped and then froze in place.

Komorebi looked around, looking at me and the others.

“Yes, I can see you have since gone on to great things...” Komorebi responded sarcastically. “You think selling people into slavery is better?”

Komorebi nudged his katana a little closer to him. The tip of the blade was now pressing gently against Rockbleeder’s throat. He gulped, grimaced, and closed his eyes.

“Please... Please! Show mercy!” he pleaded. “I… I heard you found my old comrade Werszok... and spared him. Can’t you do the same for me...? Please... I’m begging you...”

Komorebi appeared to think about it for a few seconds, while Rockbleeder let off a grovelling sobbing, filled with all manner of wails and groans. Komorebi’s expression remained unchanged throughout – just a serious glare.

“Very well...” Komorebi answered eventually, “...but on one condition.” He nodded his head towards us, as if gesturing to us. “Close this... ‘operation’ down. Free these women. Now. And if I hear that you are involved with this type of activity again – or any criminal activity, for that matter – then I will come back for you. And next time I will not be as forgiving.”

“Yes! Of course! Consider it done! Gods’ grace! Thank you! Oh, thank you!” Rockbleeder grovelled, letting go a big sigh of relief while praising his foe’s generous act of mercy.

What happened next happened very fast. Komorebi moved his long katana away from Rockbleeder, sheathing it. He began to turn back towards the door, and was in the process of sheathing his smaller katana, when I noticed Rockbleeder’s expression change – to one of scorn and hatred. It happened too quickly for me to be able to warn Komorebi, but I saw Rockbleeder produce a small throwing dagger from a hidden sheath beneath his trouser leg. But it did not matter. As I was about to make a noise – to do something, anything – to warn Komorebi, he noticed it for himself. Instead of sheathing his smaller katana, he threw it at Rockbleeder – like a large throwing dagger of his own – before Rockbleeder could throw his. It went through Rockbleeder’s chest, pinning him to his fine oak desk. His expression was one of horror – not that I was one to have any sympathy for the rotten man. That expression remained transfixed on him for just a moment, before his head slumped forward, his eyes closed, and the throwing dagger – that he didn’t even have the chance to throw – slipped through his fingers and fell to the floor. The rest of us were silent, watching, as we realised that this mystery man had saved us from the grim fate that we thought we would have to face just minutes earlier.

As he retrieved his smaller katana from Rockbleeder’s lifeless body, he spoke to us.

“You are free now,” he stated. He gave us a nod, and then turned to leave.

“Wait!” Alzenya cried out. “Who are you?”

Komorebi paused. “Who I am does not matter,” he replied. “All that matters is that you are free from this scumbag.”

“Thank you!” the two other women called out to him. “How can we repay you?” one of them went on to say. But before any of us could do or say anything else, he was gone.

We grabbed what we could – including a few valuables Rockbleeder left lying around, which I figured he wouldn’t miss, and would be recompense for the horrible situation he put us in – and got out of there as quickly as we could. We didn’t see our saviour again as we left. He was just… gone. Like a ghost.

I urged Alzenya to get out of Darkestfalls as soon as possible, which she thankfully agreed to do. It was probably overkill – Rockbleeder was dead now, after all – but I didn’t want to take any chances, just in case anyone else decided to take over his empire and pick up where he left off. She packed up her things and got on a wagon headed for the capital. I don’t know the fate of the other two women, but I figured they’d go on to do something similar. I hope the Gods’ grace guides them onto greater things.

As for me… I decided to stay in Darkestfalls – albeit only briefly. I wanted to take the time to learn more about this mysterious centaur samurai. I found out from a few chatty bar patrons – who often became a little chattier when I offered to buy them a drink or three – that he was a bounty hunter by trade. Here’s the interesting thing, though: despite his many sins, ‘Fearless’ Harmur Rockbleeder wasn’t actually an active bounty mark at the time. Double-checked it for myself. That’d explain why Komorebi was so merciful towards him. After all, you wouldn’t be a very good bounty hunter if you just… let people go. The whole idea is that you bring them in – dead or alive (ideally the latter). This struck me as more of a personal vendetta.

I heard and followed reports of a centaur samurai bounty hunter leaving Darkestfalls, heading west. I decided to follow – from a distance. All things considered, it was a good thing I did – as the next time I saw him, he was close to death. Another ‘bounty’ – a former comrade of Rockbleeder’s – led him into an ambush, with a dozen bandits at his side. Komorebi managed to fight them all off singlehandedly, killing every single one of them – but it nearly cost him his own life in the process. I managed to get him help, and nursed him back to health.

When he came to days later, he didn’t recognise me. I mean, why would he? I was wearing a mask during his encounter with Rockbleeder, and most of his attention was focused on his target. I later realised that I also didn’t speak the entire time I was in his presence – he might’ve recognised my voice otherwise.

He thanked me profusely for helping him, asking me what I wanted in return for the gesture. He felt indebted to me – given that I’d saved his life – and felt honour-bound to return the favour somehow. I think he expected me to ask for money or something similar. Instead, my answer stunned him into silence for a good few seconds.

I said that all I wanted was to train under him. To team up with him. A bounty hunting duo.

He didn’t like the idea of it at first. “Ordinarily I work alone – I always have,” he told me. But as we grew to get to know each other while he continued his recovery, he said we should give it a shot – at least on a trial basis. I was delighted. I accepted.

Later, he confided in me that he was seeking out three more remaining surviving members of the Black Howl, a notorious and highly dangerous bandit clan from many years ago. They’d been responsible for the murder of his adoptive father – the great Kaze Aramarete – and even his centaur family prior to that. I agreed to help him in his quest for justice. If Rockbleeder was anything to go by, I figured the remaining three – known as Coraura, Scorch, and Sheng-Fang, the last of whom was their leader – would be challenging adversaries.

After that? Well… We’ve had some adventures, I’ll admit. Including a whole story about an old halfling priest and a young human girl – the latter with incredible magical powers – who just so happened to teleport next to us one day, when Komorebi and I were simply minding our own business while escorting a captured bounty through a forest…

But that’s yet another long story. For another time.

Want to read more? You can continue Neve's and Komorebi's adventures in DEMONS I: The Birth of Magic!