The Emperor's Black Swan

Ep 4: Taming A Demon Dog (1)

Sania's POV

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"I don't taste good," I tell the demon, which of course, proceeds to lick its muzzle and show me each of its sharp teeth.

Demons. I sigh. They're all the same.

I'm flattered they think of me as delicious, though.

The woman warrior looks at me in puzzlement before her eyes widen when she recognizes me.

"Y-you're that witch!" she points at me with her crossbow. "You're that witch from Tollyria!"

"Careful now," I say, "You don't want to waste that precious bow on the wrong target."

My words do not make the woman warrior lower her crossbow. Her eyes burn into me with so much ferocity. "You're an enemy, too. Your country has purged our people so many times."

I look her in the eye. She, of course, is right.

Tollyria has sinned to the continent. And the ones that lead those attacks were me and my sisters.

We have sinned to the continent.

But she doesn't know the entire truth. And I intend to keep things that way.

"Put away our differences for now, "I say, "we have a big demon to tackle, right?"

The woman warrior clicks her tongue but looks at me, amused. "What are you going to do naked? Seduce the demon dog?"

I tilt my head. "Considering it," my words shock her. She obviously has not any experience in dealing with demons.

Not like I have. Some can be... quite gullible.

"Does the demon talk?" I ask, "How long has it been since the full transformation?"

The sneer on her face recedes. She looks at me dead serious. Wary. Because now she knows that I have knowledge of demons.

"How do you know?" she asks, "That it's a transformation and not-"

"Not a real demon from Hell?" I finish her sentence. "Wolf demons don't have the power to be away from their masters for too long unless they infest themselves to souls."

Now not only the woman warrior but the wolf too is surprised that I know these things. They are not typically what an earthly creature would know.

"Wolf demons are pretty weak, and full transformation like this only happens when the wolf has infested the soul since it was a puppy," I continue, "The time someone has until he goes to have a full transformation differs between each soul. But it's good to know the age of the demon."

Hearing its age being talked about, the demon perks its ears. It growls at me.

"Why does it matter?"

"To find the antidote," I say in a tone that says I've dealt with demons daily.

The wolf growls stronger, baring its teeth to me. The amusement in its eyes has died down, replaced by anger.

It does not like to hear someone has the remedy to a demon infesting a soul.

"You can banish the demon from him?" the woman warrior asks, still in a reluctant tone, but more optimistic than before. I can see the light in her eyes become brighter.

"No." Her light dies down. "I can't banish the demon. But the antidote can subdue the demon. So that whoever "he" is can take control of the demon even when he is in the wolf form."

The demon arches its back, still glowering ferociously at me. It is ready to attack me. Perhaps even kill me right then.

I swirl my fingers behind my back, finally feeling the shadows answering my calls since I have gone back to my human form. No, not entirely human. We just have a similar physique to humans.

But I have always been a witch, a sorcerer. Not a spell caster, but I have always been a conjurer of night.

The darkness of the night helps too. I always feel strongest at night.

When I ready my shadows, I take a mental note that my power isn't accessible when I am in my swan form. But for some reason, I don't have any problem with my normal form.

Another thing that I have noted is... my wings. My black, gorgeous, majestic wings have not returned even when I am in a human form. There is a slight burn snaking on my spine, at the spot where my wings were burnt, as I welcome the shadows.

In a short fraction of a second, I strengthened my connection with the shadows. The burn intensifies, just like a lighted stove. It burns my skin.

I wince at the pain and crouch slightly on the ground. As soon as I stop the connection, the burning feeling stops. Faintly, I could hear the sizzling sound of something still cooking, yet as the fire has gone out, my back is getting cooler.

Luckily, my body heals fast. It is a trait we witches have. Because it doesn't involve magic, thank the Goddes–Nope! We will not thank that unhelpful person–that it still functions well.

But this is still bad. Very bad. If my theory is right, then every time I summon my power, hellfire would burn my back repeatedly.

The demon looks at me, puzzled. It tilts its head. While its front paws bent slightly, ready to run to me at a lightning speed.

And it does. I notice the demon running to me a fraction of a second too late.

"Run!!!" the woman warrior shouts at me.

Instead of running, I take a fallen branch near the pond. It is quite long and sturdy. Then I straighten my back, ignoring the pain I feel at every moment. Well, the pain is actually good. It further reminds me that I am still alive.

Looking straight at the demon's eyes, I tighten my grip on the tree branch. This is so familiar to what I experienced five years ago.

This time, my legs and arms are not shaking. I also don't have my sisters and my people to worry about.

This time, I know what to do.

This time, I know I wouldn't fall.

I could not use my magic to survive. But magic is not the only thing I am good at.

"I can tame a demon dog," I mutter. I think the demon heard me because it growls even louder and pumps its feet to reach me faster.

***

Darilus's POV

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Once the demon takes over my body, I am pushed back to the deepest corner of my consciousness. I lose all control of my body.

It is the worst feeling. Being trapped in your own mind.

You know you are awake. You are aware of everything that is happening.

But you have no control over what to do. You have no voice; you have no power. Your presence is being reduced into nothingness and yet you notice every single damn thing.

It is like being paralyzed. I used to experience mild paralyzation as part of a war casualty in my youth. My Elven body has very quick healing, beyond human capabilities. That is the only reason my spine could heal after a month.

I thought that one month was the worse. But being unable to control your own body from killing your people in your garden is way worse.

I was so scared when I saw Bifta coming with her crossbow slung on her shoulders. That woman has always been brave and of course, she would try to protect the cursed people in the garden.

But I know the demon that has been living inside of me. It is strong. Much stronger than Bifta.

I fear for her life.

That is, until I saw a swan turning into a female just near the pond. I can tell that the demon didn't know about this. It is shocked too.

In the back recess of my mind, I note down her appearances. White-silver hair, grey eyes that shine. Her naked skin is covered in soot, which makes me wonder why. But what I am more concerned about is her face. I've seen her paintings and I've heard the horrible ballads about her. She inspires a Gothic theme opera in my land.

She is the devil from Tollyria. We call her the White Witch. She is the right-hand woman of the evil Tollyrian King, Rob. Only the Goddess would know how many lives she has taken, how many families she has crushed, how much anguish she has brought to the world.

What is she doing in my pond garden?

And why is she cursed too... as a black swan?

She is not my people. Besides, isn't she supposed to be dead? We heard the news that Rob has burned her entire troop along with herself and the princesses he adopted. We never got to why Rob would do that, I thought he might have gone psycho, but we actually rejoiced at the news.

Some of my people even created a little celebration for the death of the White Witch.

That is how we, Aluthians, strongly despise her and Tollyria.

So why is she in my garden pond? Is this supposed to be a joke from the Goddess?

When the demon propels itself forward to the witch, I don't know if I should be scared or relieved that the demon's target is Sania Dawnless.

But she holds her ground. And she stares at the demon as if she has had her share of dealing with demonic wolves. She is unafraid.

And confident.

Even Bifta can never be confident when facing the demon.

"I can tame a demon dog," she mutters.

When I heard it, I don't know why... I trust her.

I believe her.

Who knew that after a century of living, I would be happy when a witch says she would tame me?

The demon takes a giant leap and opens its mouth to Sania. But for the first time, I feel weirdly calm.

I have faith that no bloodshed will happen tonight.

And it is all because of her.

Her.

The one who is supposed to be my enemy.

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