Raenah Alucacia lives alone in an old castle in a land long forgotten by the sands of time. Once, her castle was home to the royal family of the vast lands surrounding the now crumbling fortress. The valley once sang with life in abundance. However, this changed twenty-five years ago when a plague swept across the kingdom.
The king, her father, had ordered the country's sorcerers and alchemists to find a cure to the wretched disease that had gripped his country. People, plants, and animals were all falling terribly ill and succumbing to this blight. Alas, there seemed to be no end to the plague's destruction.
This was until a wizened old sage visited the castle. He told the king that he knew of a way to lift the accursed rot from the valley. Desperate to save his people, the king begged the old man to tell him what must be done.
"You must conceive a child with your wife, the queen, and bring her to the mountain cave at the highest point within your lands. Speak with the demon who has undoubtedly taken up residence there. Offer the child to be given to the demon when it is born. The demon will no doubt accept; they are naturally curious about the gift of life, as all they bring is destruction. If you do this, then the demon will leave your lands, and your kingdom shall be saved," instructed the wise sage.
The king thanked him profusely and did as he was told. The queen became heavy with child, and the king brought his wife to the cave at the highest mountain cave within his lands. From within the cave there spilled a fine mist that seemed to flow down the mountain and throughout the valley.
"This must be the work of the demon," the king thought as he gazed into the yawning entrance into the mountain.
From out of the cave came a tall, slender being with golden eyes and hair the color of amethyst. It gazed upon the royal couple and said, "Speak, mortals. Why have you intruded upon my home?" The king held his queen close to him and said, "I come to you to seek an end to the plague ravaging the lands in the valley below. As you can see, my wife is heavy with child. If you will leave these lands and take this curse with you, then the child shall be yours on the day of its birth."
When the king had finished speaking, the demon seemed to consider the offer and stood there, gazing upon them, for several minutes. Finally, a smile came to its face, making it seem all the more sinister. "Very well, mortal. I accept your offer. Bring your wife to me on the day she is to give birth. Once the child is born, I shall rid these lands of the miasma that plagues them."
The king was overjoyed to hear that his kingdom would be saved. However, in the weeks between his visit with the demon and the day his wife was meant to give birth, the queen began to fall ill with the disease that covered the land. When the time came for the child to be born, her royal highness barely had the strength to make the climb to the demon's cave.
The queen lay on a pile of dead leaves and grass at the entrance to the dark being's home as she gave birth. The demon emerged as she screamed, gazing curiously as the child entered the world. As the queen exited. The flame of life that had been dying within the queen for months had finally been snuffed out by the new life of the child.
"Simply fascinating," the demon remarked as it held the screaming child in its clawed hands. The king's face contorted in rage as he shouted, "You foul creature! You are the cause of all this! It is because of you that my beloved wife now lies dead before me! Wretched being, take the child and take your leave! You have done far more damage than could ever be repaired! Take your accursed miasma and never return to my kingdom!"
The demon glared at the king during his outburst. "Ignorant mortal. How dare you insult me? I am one of the highest-ranking spell-casters in all of the four realms! If I so desired, I could see this entire mountain, valley, and beyond thrown into the Great Kingdom of Nevara!" the now furious being shouted. It gazed upon the newborn, cries still rising from its tiny form, and said, "However, I am honor-bound by my word. I shall release this land from the miasma now that the child has been born."
The demon placed the child atop the still body of the queen and muttered a low chant. A glyph of ancient runes appeared beneath them as the demon continued. The child's cries began to taper off and bright blue eyes opened for the first time, staring up at the demon. The slender being's form slowly vanished, and with it so did the newborn's screams.
When the demon had completely disappeared and all was quiet, the misty miasma thinned and vanished as well. The king gaped in amazement, until his eyes came to rest on the child. Large cerulean orbs gazed back at him, holding a sinister darkness within their depths. "So, then, you still live on, you devil. Fine, take this child of calamity and destruction. I will not care for my beloved's murderer, even if it is my own daughter."
The king stood and began to leave the newborn babe on the mountain, but as he turned to leave she started crying and a thick fog of miasma came pouring from the queen's corpse. Shocked, the king returned to the child and glared at her. "So then, you are holding my kingdom for ransom while your host is unable to care for itself? Fine. I will raise the child, but know that both of your days in this kingdom are numbered."
The king took his daughter back to the castle with him and ordered the few remaining servants to raise the child. "Beg pardon, my lord, but where is her majesty Lady Camilla?" one of the maids asked. The king's expression turned dark and he said, "Ask the child, for she is the demon that killed your queen."
The following years brought new life to the valley. Those that had survived the miasma's sickness began to rebuild the kingdom, and the land started to come back to life.
Inside the king's castle, though, an unsettling darkness had begun to fester. The king's daughter, Raenah, as she has been named by the servants, was raised mostly away from her father.
When left to her own devices, the servants would later return to find her speaking to an invisible companion, sometimes holding entire conversations with the vacant space around her. Other times, the estranged princess could be found in the midst of performing dark magics.
Following the queen's death, the king began a slow descent into madness. He muttered to himself as he paced his chambers late at night, refusing to sleep so as long as that
thing was still alive. At the few occasions when he saw his daughter, he would lash out at her, shouting about how she had killed the queen and how a devil like her should be destroyed.
On the eve of Raenah's sixteenth birthday, the king demanded his daughter be brought before him. The princess was presented to her father, dressed in a gown that had once belonged to the late queen. Her long raven locks were pinned up in a regal braid atop her head, and her crystalline eyes shown as blue as the day of her birth.
When she appeared before the king, he gaped in horror. Why did this wretched thing resemble his deceased beloved down to the crystal pendant he'd given his wife on their wedding day?! He took a sword from its mount on the wall and began striking and slashing at his despised daughter.
Desperate for help, the princess called out to her invisible friend, the demon that had been with her since the day of her birth.
In an instant, cloth ripped, teeth turned to fangs, wings sprouted, horns grew, and nails changed to claws. Now in full control of the princess's body, the demon ripped the king asunder with a fierce glare.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the instant vanished. In a moment of swirling darkness, Raenah's form regained its natural shape, and she passed out.
She regained consciousness the next morning at the clattering of a tray and the shriek of a maid. "Murder! The king has been murdered!" shouted the maid as she raced through the halls.
Raenah gazed about the room and gasped when she saw what remained of her father. Deep gashes littered his once regal form, and the pool of blood around him had begun to dry.
She started shaking when she saw the dried blood on her hands. The most shocking part, though, was that her fingernails had turned an inky black.
What had happened last night? As she pondered this, a familiar voice purred in her mind. "Do not worry about him, my sweet child. I have removed that violent man from our lives forever," it whispered to her. "How?!" she questioned, "You don't have a body!"
The voice hummed, perhaps in satisfaction, and said, "Oh, but I do, my dear princess of the night- yours. You see, you were given to me when you were born in order to save your father's kingdom. However, now the king is dead, slain by both the demon and daughter he so despised."
"I... killed my father? With these hands?!" she shouted in horror. "Yes, but do not worry. I shall relieve you of this burden in time. Now that you have completely opened yourself to me, I shall be taking what is rightfully mine."
"What are you talking about?" she asked. "Surely you've already noticed the smallest of changes. Your senses are sharper, your nails are a beautiful ebony, and you aren't being affected by the miasma beginning to drift down the mountain," the voice purred.
"What?!" "Oh, yes. It will take many years, but I believe I'll grow into this body rather nicely."
Only a few years have passed since that day, but the demon's words rang true. The miasma once again flowed from the mountain where Raenah was born, the valley began to wither away once more, and the demon slowly began to take over Raenah's body. When the servants discovered what had happened on the night of the king's death, they began calling her 'the cursed princess' and 'demon princess' in hushed tones.
Many fled in fear of what the possessed princess may do in the future. Others died from miasma poisoning. This has eventually left her alone with the demon.
Most of the changes to her body were gradual. Horns sprouted from her head, wings began to form on her back, her hair began growing in a deep violet rather than a splendid ebony, her irises took on a green hue, and her black nails grew into sharp talons.
The only quick change was the tail that seemed to grow overnight. It seemed to have a mind of its own, flicking about at random and lashing out at the oddest times. The demon explained it as being somewhat like a cat's tail, only that it reacted to the demon's moods instead of his host's.
She has become rather lonely since the valley became deserted. Rumors of the Cursed Princess possessed by a demon kept most everyone well away. She has been thinking lately, though, that she may venture forth on her own while she still holds control over her own body...
Trisphee
