The Emperor's Black Swan

Ep 3: Good Doggie. Bad Doggie.

Sania's POV

–––

Five years ago

My hands are shaking. I look at my small fingers, wrapped around a heavy sword. It is an heirloom by the previous King of Tollyria. It is supposed to be passed down to the princess, Lyria. But she is asleep... and I just locked her room, along with my other sisters' rooms. 

I am not a princess. I was adopted with two other girls by the Kingdom of Tollyria. King Rob had a thing about picking up children from various places, especially those who the world seems to hate. He took us from the places that never wanted our presence. 

I came from a place that sought my death. I was eight at that time. And I could never forget the amount of bloodshed on that day.

King Rob offered us a place to call home in his kingdom, Tollyria.

And tonight, I will keep my home safe.

The Kingdom of Tollyria will not fall. Not tonight.

I tighten my grip on the sword. I ready my shadows with my other hand.

A deep growl reverberates through the hall. I cannot keep my legs from shaking.

Paws come to my vision first. It is almost the size of my head. Then I see the snout, fangs, and its huge yellow eyes emerging from the dark. Dark god comes out from its mouth and paws. it is a demonic beast from the pit of hell itself, and it comes from the King's chamber.

It looks straight to my eyes, smelling my fear.

I am terrified. 

And yet... If I fall, the demon will hunt my sisters. Then it will devour the rest of the people living in the castle, the civilians, then... If I fall tonight, hell would be unleashed on the entire world.

So, I stand my ground despite my trembling weak legs. I keep reminding myself to breathe. To be calm and think of a way out. 

I am terrified.

And yet... I will not fall.

I will not fall.

I made Robb a promise.

This demon will not go past me. Not tonight.

So, I unleash my shadows on the demon, knocking it back a little. I hope it is enough to keep it from going any further. 

But it only laughs at me.

"Cute," the demon says. His voice sounds so heavy and baritone-like.

I can feel my lips trembling and going paler.

I will not fall. I will not fall. I will not fall. I keep chanting those three words in my mind. Perhaps if I keep repeating it, I will start believing my own words. That it will come true. 

I will not fall. I will not fall. I will not fall.

Not tonight.

I must not fall.

The demon lets out a roar, just one roar and I find my legs almost buckling under my weight. Then it starts running toward me. I can feel my blood turning cold.

I will not fall.

Not

Tonight.

***

Present time

Great. Not in Tollyria. Not in Aluthia. 

I find demons everywhere I go. Is there like a demon-magnet to me? Do I draw demons to come to find me all the time? 

Sighing heavily–as loud as a swan could–does swan even sigh?–Anyway, I start to take into account the state of the wolf. Large paws and completely sharp teeth, eyes that seem to pull you into a dark abyss, and dark fog coming out from its eyes and mouth. The wolf's fur is black from the muzzle to the tail. 

My long neck of a swan has to look up just to see its drooling muzzle. It looks hungry. Starving. 

The wolf licks its muzzle as if it is sharpening its teeth. Its black eyes glimmered with so much intent. It growls subtly, more like a purr. The demon is definitely enjoying terrorizing the animals. And it is working. 

The animals are in a state of panic. Sheila turns, frozen as a stone next to me. The frogs return to the pond, hiding behind large lotus leaves. The squirrel hurries to climb a tree while the rest of the animals start to run frantically in all directions. 

Only Sheila and I are left standing in front of the wolf. I can see that Sheila is shaking heavily. A paste-like substance comes out from Sheila's back. I raise my eyebrow–well, I imagine myself raising my eyebrow. Does swan even have eyebrows? I never thought about it, never paid so much attention to a swan before. Pretty sure swans don't have eyebrows, right?

Right, a demonic wolf is standing before me. And I was talking about the paste-like substance. Long story short, it is poop. That is how scared Sheila is. 

Even the demon is raising the muscle above its eye, equivalent to humans raising their eyebrows (I also only knew that wolves don't have eyebrows). It looks amused seeing how scared the duck is. Yet when it looks at me, its eyebrow-like raises even more. Its smile reduces when its dark eyes meet my silver ones. 

A demon hates it when it fails to spread fear. They feel powerful when they can make others tremble. Yet they get confused easily when at least one person is brave enough to stare them in the eye. 

A demon is nothing without the fear it brings to people. It is nothing in front of a brave person. 

Unfortunately, I am a little scared. Because I am a freaking swan with scant feet and a long neck. I have no teeth and claws. And my power?

I reach inside of me, feeling that pool of darkness that I know so well. It comforts me, saying that they will never leave me. My magic is still within my grasp. Yet when I want to summon it, nothing appears. Only the frosty night air greets me. 

Sheila is already shaking that I am afraid her entire small duck body will explode. Her trembling, unfortunately, only makes the demon more interested in her. It licks its muzzle again, slower than before. Its eyes penetrating the duck, marking the poultry as its first meal. 

I tilt my head to the side a little, thinking if this is part of the curse. If the demon is the reason a lot of the cursed people in the pond died. I wonder if the demon comes regularly to hunt these animals. 

It is definitely a sick joke. Whoever made this curse is one sadistic, barbaric, and wicked person. Turning people to be in a game hunt with a demon. 

The demon growls. Not loud. Yet it succeeds in making Sheila tremble more. Her feet wobble and in a second, the duck is already sitting on the ground, frozen. 

I flap my wings, thinking that Sheila might be able to catch on to my hint that we are birds now. We can fly. The wolf can't. But Sheila has her eyes fixed on the wolf. Her legs seem dysfunctional, so I assume her wings are frozen, too. The wolf seems to know this too. Oh, the creature is basking himself in glory for making a duck forget how to fly because of how scared she is. 

I sigh. 

What I have learned many years ago is that I can never save everyone. I can only pick my battles. And right now, I can't afford to cost my life to save Sheila's. Not while I haven't figured out this curse that befalls me. However, I flap my wings once more, hoping Sheila finally realizes that she can get out from the demon's grasp. That she has the means to get out of this predicament herself. 

Sheila is too fixated on her rooted fear that she never once sees me. 

I sigh again. She can't be helped then, I think to myself. I can't save everyone, I remind myself again. 

I don't have to save everyone. 

I have no obligation to. 

It is not evil to not be able to do something beyond your capabilities, right? Even if it is in the scope of my ability... it is never my duty to stretch myself every time, right? 

With a last glance at Sheila, I stretch my wings and take off to the sky. The duck, until the end, never truly sees me. Even when the demon sees me taking off to the night sky. An amused look is painted on the wolf's face as if mocking me. 

I think little of that minor exchange as I race to the darkness above me. Fortunately, I have experience in using wings. I used to have gorgeous dark wings on my back and I use them to travel anywhere. Even though in my swan form, my wings are my arms, the feeling of flying is still the same. How the wind caresses your cheeks, how the clouds and stars seem to greet you as if you belong in the sky. 

The pond garden looks beautiful if I can be honest, from above. It shapes like a dome, with a large pond in the middle. A gazebo is set on the east and large trees on the west side make the garden look like a small magical forest. 

A few seconds in flying, however, I realize how stupid I have been. I realize why the demon mocked me and why Frederick, instead of flying out from the garden, flew to hide behind branches. As soon as I reach the perimeter of the garden, suddenly, I hit a hard wall. I meet the invisible wall with my beak first. My neck bends, following the impact, and my wings and chest hit the wall harshly. 

I fall for a fraction of a second. But immediately I regain my composure and give strength to my wings in order to keep me afloat in the air. I stare for quite some time at the space before me. It does not look like there is anything blocking me. On a closer look, however, I see some magical dust strewing around. 

It is a magical barrier. 

Looking down, I see the demon is observing me. That amused look is still present. I rather think he gets more entertained seeing me discovering for the first time that I can't get out from the garden. Looking up, I wonder if the barrier is only circling the garden instead of forming a dome around it. I try my luck by flying upwards. 

A few seconds later, I hit another wall just an inch from the cloud above me. This time, the impact makes me fall harder than before. I can't open my wings fast enough. I see a glimpse of what's beneath me. The hard ground and... the demon is waiting for me below. It crouches slightly as if readying a jump. 

Shit. I am the first prey. 

Wolves aren't supposed to be able to smile, right? But I am pretty sure it is smiling widely. Or perhaps it is bragging about its teeth to me. And it works. I panic a little as I keep trying to put strength into my wings. 

Unfortunately, I only manage to flap my wings again, just a few feet from the wolf who is about to jump to get me. I flap my wings more frantically in order to fight gravity and put a distance between me and the wolf.

Shit. 

I won't make it. 

The wolf will be able to grab me with its large teeth, and I can feel my death approaching soon. This isn't funny! I thought I have died. I was prepared, and I have surrendered to that fate. Then I found out I'm still alive only to be dead in a few brief moments?

Who the hell made this curse? Who is this sneaky person who drags me from death only to experience this quick moment of being alive? What is the point of making me a black swan?

Just as soon as the wolf's teeth grazed my webbed feet, the sound of something splitting the air is heard. The next second, I see a small arrow has stuck on the wolf's neck. The wolf stops. It allows me to finally able to fly away and keep quite a distance in the air. 

The arrow does not pierce the wolf deeply. Both the wolf and I turn to see the direction where the arrow came from. My first instinct tells me that the shooter is a male, with short hair, a bulky body in full clad armor, and carrying a large crossbow as if it is an extension of the body. On further observation, I see that the shooter is actually a female. Her face looks rough and full of angles, but her eyes are very feminine. And when she opens her mouth, "How did you escape from the tower, demon?" her voice is feminine as well. 

I make myself stay in the air but close enough to hear their conversations. 

The demon smiles wider–I just knew wolves can smile. It is eerie to look at. "You think you can keep me prisoner?" it asks with mockery laced in its tone. "Your Emperor is growing weaker by the second. No one can prison me anymore."

The female shooter readies her crossbow, directing it at the large demon wolf. It is almost the same height as the female. 

"You will not kill me," the demon says, still in that downgrading tone, "Kill me and you kill your master too."

"I only need to keep you away from the others until sunrise," the female says, "I will preserve his soul even if it costs me my life."

The demon chuckles. "You don't want to see your master breaking apart when he finds out that he has killed his people again," he says, "It is futile. And I will prove that by killing you first."

I thought I can just watch these two fight it off while I think of other ways to keep my life tonight. Yet right at that moment, I suddenly feel the surrounding air tighten. Specks of dust wrap around my body out of nowhere. I feel my body getting heavier and... longer. 

Shit. 

Quickly, I land on the ground before my wings are gone from my body. When I land, I see human feet instead of webbed swan feet. And when I look to the sides, my black wings are turning into skinny arms. As I landed near the pond, I manage a glimpse at the water's reflection. 

What looks back at me is a girl with dirty white-silver hair and silver eyes, stark naked with grimes and oil on her skin. I have transformed into my usual form again. 

I see that Sheila, still stuck in her place, finally looks at me. Her eyes are wide with shock at my transformation. So, I deduce... so far only I can transform back into a human form as long as this curse has been set. Why, though?

This is bad. 

Because when I look back at the demon, I see that I have caught its interest once again. 

"Good doggie?" I mumble a question. The demon purrs while growling. More amused than ever, and certainly, looks more hungry than before. 

"Bad doggie."

.

.

.

.

.

Copyright @ Karasmara / Dreame / Stary. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.