Demon Diary: Malaise
Chapter 1


Raenef slumped back in his chair, brushing a stray hair out of his face. He slowly let out a sigh.

How very depressing this book was.

It had been a month since the young demon lord had attempted to procure his servant’s affection. It had been a month since the two had spoken together as they used to. A month ago, Raenef had eagerly anticipated the brief, accidental touches that might occur between them every day: bumping shoulders as they walked together, touching hands when one passed an object to the other. A little thrill used to rush through his body at such contact.

For a whole month the two had gone out of their way to avoid any sort of physical connection, and the boy was very lonely. But it wasn’t so bad. The fresh, stabbing pains in his heart had finally dulled to a gentle ache.

But really. How depressing this book was.

No matter the love issues the demon lord and his servant were having, Eclipse still had to teach the boy. Today he had picked out several books regarding the history of one of the previous Raenefs, Raenef II. The one the blonde had just been reading was about one of Raenef II’s companions, a boisterous demon lord of the now defunct name Polemy.

Raenef II had been close friends with Polemy VII in their youth, and even into adulthood the two kept up frequent contact. They were closer than brothers; they relied on one another and had saved the other from harm on any number of occasions. So it was no surprise that Raenef, upon feeling Polemy’s lifeforce suddenly vanish one day, immediately dropped what he was doing and magicked himself to the Polemy castle.

There he found his dear friend, literally ripped to shreds by the holy magic of a radicalist sect of clerics, who had been furious about their villages being attacked by minor demons and had taken out their anger on the nearest demon lord. The clerics had transported themselves, more than thirty of them, and descended on Polemy in his sleep. Their holy teleportation spell left a complicated symbol burned forever into the stone floor of Polemy’s bedroom. Despite his power, the demon lord hadn’t stood a chance.

The largest piece Raenef II found of the body has an index and a middle finger, still connected by a flap of skin; the index finger still bore the heavy signet ring of the Polemy name.

How horrible... the current Raenef thought in misery. How could anyone, even those who despised demons, ever do such a thing? The clerics that the boy Chris had come from, even they hadn’t been so devout. They’d barely reacted the time Raenef had unexpectedly popped up in their midst. Granted, they hadn’t believed he was a demon lord at first...

Well, that explained the portraits he’d seen of his second predecessor. He’d noticed the ring strung on a chain around the man’s neck, proudly displayed on his chest. He knew it wasn’t the ring of the Raenef name; that, Raenef wore on his own hand, and it was distinctly different.

The boy rose to his feet. The musty smell of books was starting to irritate his sinuses. He never could stay in the library for very long at a time. Poor Polemy, he thought again as he strode slowly to the window and flung it open. The fresh twilight air was a welcome change to the stench of dried ink and crumbling parchment. He leaned his elbows on the windowsill, resting his chin on one hand and dangling the other out into the open air. The stone beneath the windowsill felt the absentminded caress of his fingertips. But poor me, too...

Gazing out across the sprawling forest, he thought he saw a thin curl of smoke rising into the air. He dismissed it quickly, mind still stuck in his deep depression. Poor me... his mind continued. Here I am, stuck in this beautiful palace, alone. Or as good as alone. Chris and Erutis left a good year ago, and Eclipse... The dull ache in his heart throbbed once. I have Eclipse but he won’t speak to me like he once did. He doesn’t smile anymore. Come to think of it, neither do I, really. His face slipped into his palm. I ruined things, didn’t I? Yes I did. If I hadn’t been so foolhardy that day, if I hadn’t met up with Krayon. If I hadn’t asked that question...

His fingers grasped his face, tugging at the skin as he raised his head again. There wasn’t any point in beating himself up about it now. He’d done enough of that already. Besides, it was over a month too late to change things.

A light flared in the corner of his eye. Oh... Eclipse came to bring me a lamp. It is getting dark... He probably planned on leaving it on my table and slipping away before he had to speak to me. Raenef decided not to let his servant escape without getting a word in. “Thank you, Eclipse,” he said softly. He knew the other would hear him.

There was no reply. Raenef’s brow twitched in confusion. No matter how cold and formal Eclipse had become towards him, he always always always answered when spoken to. Perhaps... he hadn’t heard after all? “Eclipse,” he said again, turning around, “I said thank-”

The blood drained from his face. In that instant, Raenef knew exactly what was going to happen to him.

There was a brightly flowing symbol on the floor, the perfect giant twin of the one sketched into the pages of the book laying open where he’d left it on the table.

In the instant before the clerics appeared, he swore he saw Death grinning toothily at him.

The clerics shimmered into existence by threes, each group stepping out of the symbol of light to make room for others. By the time the light began to fade, there were no less than fifty holy men crowding the library. Raenef narrowed his eyes, hands tightly gripping the cold windowsill pressing into his back, until his knuckles turned white. He pressed his lips together into a grim line.

One of the clerics stepped forward, dressed more elaborately than the others. “Demon lord Raenef, fifth of that name!” he proclaimed loudly so all could hear. Raenef marveled at how much power the man commanded; he could feel it even in the man’s voice. “You, and all demons, are abominations! It is sin of the blackest sort that you have been allowed to live for so long. It is God’s will that we, the clerics of the First Order, exterminate every one of you unnatural vermin.” His gaze pierced Raenef’s own green eyes; his chest seized up. He couldn’t breathe. “Especially you,” the man added with a smirk.

Not knowing what else to do, Raenef threw out his hand. “D-Dark Arrow!!” he barely managed to croak. Darkness welled up in his outstretched palm. But with a puff of grey smoke, the energy fizzled out. Raenef choked as he tried to curse. He didn’t have enough control of his powers. Holy was slowly expanding from the men, taking over the castle with its horrid goodness. It trumped his meager spell.

He still couldn’t breathe, no matter how hard he tried. Vision beginning to blur, his knees trembled, then gave out. He collapsed, kneecaps smacking painfully against the stone floor. The blonde boy clutched his throat in a panic. He could sense the enemies slowly surround him.

Then there were hands all over him, grasping at his robes, snagging in his hair, picking up his limp, oxygen-deprived body. He squeezed his eyes shut against the feel of those hands. Why weren’t they killing him outright? This was not death. Were they planning to kidnap him? For what purpose? Even if he wasn’t it, Raenef knew what a demon lord was supposed to be, and demon lords did not get taken hostage. They fought to the death in their own territory. But he couldn’t fight back. Is that why they insisted on this torture, this molestation, to deprive him of what little depravity he’d managed to bring out of himself over time?

A tear slipped down his cheek. He was a failure.

Out of nowhere, there was a blast of hot air. Raenef and the clerics were thrown over, and as the demon lord fell on the enraged bodies of his intended captors, he realized he could breathe again. He sucked in a huge gulp of air in relief. Another pair of hands grasped the back of his tunic, hauling him to his feet. They were warm, calming hands, ones he recognized. “Eclipse!!” he whispered, panting too heavily to manage anything louder.

“My lord. Are you alright?” the raven-haired demon asked. His grip loosened, and Raenef stood weakly on his feet. His servant stood in front of what was only moments earlier a wall, but was now rubble. Raenef stared.

“Eclipse... how did you know?”

“You are my lord. I know everything that happens to you.” Though the voice was steady, a spasm of emotional pain flashed across those deep dark eyes, so fast the blonde thought he may have imagined it. Because the next moment, there was no trace. Eclipse frowned. “I suppose the book I assigned for you to read today was unusually... apt. These clerics are of the same sect - and apparently mindset - of the ones that assaulted Polemy VII.” He glanced and the still-fallen men in white robes. “They are crazed madmen. They will not stop hunting you if you remain here, and my explosion will not have stunned them for long. We must leave now, my lord! It is my duty-” This word hardened his voice. “-to keep you safe.”

Raenef gently touched his servant’s upper arm, grazing the silk with his fingertips. “Then let us leave.” It was the most intimate touch he’d allowed himself since the incident. Eclipse’s body stiffened at the unexpected contact. But then the hand fell back to its owner’s side, and he knew he had to say something.

“We must not use magic to escape,” he explained, voice wavering beyond control for a brief moment. “These will not be the only men in the palace. Using our powers would alert them to our presence, and we must escape without notice.” Raenef nodded.

They fled down the nearest hallway. Their footsteps echoed stunningly in the darkness. Every moment, Raenef feared another band of clerics would burst forth. It seemed to take a lifetime to reach the entryway, where they could exit the palace and escape, but finally they did. The two raced down the long stairs, the massive double doors in front in sight. They were going to make it!

Two white-robed clerics suddenly stepped into view as Raenef and Eclipse reached the bottom steps. “By God’s will, I’ll have your head!!” the one nearest to Raenef snarled. He had a sword in his grip and white foam in the corners of his lips.

“Raenef!!” Eclipse yelled. He snaked an arm around the boy’s shoulders and hauled him up out of harm’s way, or so he intended. The cleric’s thrust missed the blonde’s fragile neck, but instead sliced easily through his stomach.

Raenef shrieked at the top of his lungs, and scarlet surged out around the blade. The cleric withdrew his weapon, grinning madly. Eclipse felt the boy’s heart pattering frantically beneath his arm and hoped desperately it would continue for more than a few minutes. He kept running, biting off the beginnings of a cry of “Go.” He must not attract more clerics, whatever he did.

Finally reaching the doors, he hurled them open and set Raenef on his feet. The boy collapsed, but Eclipse held him upright. “Lord Raenef, you have to run!” he insisted.

Raenef’s head lolled on his shoulders. “But I’m dead, Eclipse...” he murmured. “They’ve killed me...”

“No they haven’t! Snap out of it, my lord!!” He shook the boy, glancing back over his own shoulder. The two clerics were coming. He looked forward again; Raenef was beginning to rouse himself.

“It... it hurts, Eclipse...”

“Dying will hurt worse. Now run! I will be right behind you!” Eclipse released the shoulders; the boy stood under his own steam. He gave him a not-so-gentle shove away from the building, and the blonde slowly started running again.

His master out of the way, Eclipse returned his full attention to the clerics. They would pay for what they had done.

____________

Stumbling as fast as his feet would take him, Raenef made his way through the forest. He clutched his stomach with his right hand, his left waving in front of him to keep the branches out of his face. The last thing he needed was a leafy twig in the eye. It was all he could do to dodge blindly between trees, often getting caught on the rough bark and ripping his tunic. His lungs burned, his wound burned, and his heart pounded in his chest like an animal trapped in a cage several sizes too small.

Behind him in the distance, a loud, sharp vibration cracked the air. The blonde whipped his head around, terror glinting in his eyes - were the clerics already following him?? But with a shriek, he promptly tripped over a root. He was flung forward into the leaf-strewn ground, sliding in the decay for several feet. An anguish moan escaped his lips as agony pierced his insides anew. He tasted copper on the back of his tongue. He weakly spat out a glob of crimson.

He remained still on his front, waiting to regain his breath, though it aggravated his wound to do so. Eventually, he struggled to lift himself up. His arms shook violently as he tried to put weight on them. He moaned again, squeezing his eyes shut against the black spots beginning to dance in his vision.

Vaguely he felt a cool a breeze caress his sweaty neck. There was a sharp intake of breath above him, and a pair of hands carefully grabbed him by the shoulders. “Raenef!!” a voice hissed. With the hands doing most of the work, Raenef lifted himself to his knees. He slowly lifted his head, his own hand clutching his wound tightly in an attempt to assuage the pain. Krayon frowned down at him.

“Gods, Raenef,” he said. One hand remained to grip his shoulder. “Your stomach...” Krayon glanced back down the path the boy had come. “You’ve left a trail of blood a mile long!” He hoisted Raenef, all but deadweight, onto a large rock a few feet off the path. The blonde perched carefully on the boulder, swaying gently back and forth.

“What... what was that noise a moment ago?” Raenef wheezed, finding it difficult to fill his lungs between his panic and the pain. The older demon lord narrowed his eyes and pointed back in the direction of the palace. Raenef followed the finger with his eyes and bit back a shuddering sob. A single line of dark smoke was spiraling into the air, just like the one he’d seen from his window not twenty minutes before.

“The clerics destroyed your palace,” Krayon replied, echoing in words what the blonde had just realized in sight.

“No...” he whispered, fresh tears streaking through the blood on his face. That palace had been more than a stronghold for his growing demonic power. It had been a home. Until he’d gone to live there, he’d never had a true home, a place where he belonged. Sure, in his teenage years he’d had the guild, and his fellow members had become his family, but it hadn’t really felt like his own. More like a place someone was lending him. He had slept so much deeper, feeling safer, his first night in the palace than he ever had anywhere else. “M-my home...” he murmured mournfully.

Krayon tore his eyes away from the plume of smoke and spark in the distance. “Worry not for your palace. Buildings can be rebuilt; you cannot.” Although he did grieve for all the books, all the knowledge lost in the fiery calamity. He shook those thoughts away. “Now let me see your wound.”

Raenef was unwilling, but the older demon lord still managed to pry the protective hand away. He winced in sympathy as slimy strings of scarlet came away with it. The blonde cursed quietly as the raw flesh was exposed to the dark forest air. Krayon examined the wound carefully, without touching it. It was deep, but the cut was clean; it would heal well. That is, if it had been inflicted by any other weapon.

“This was done by a holy sword, wasn’t it?” he had to ask. Raenef nodded indistinctly, distracted by the pain burning deep within his body. “I will do what I can. Hold still.”

Krayon’s eyes slid closed as his fingers reached down, spread gently over the bloody mess. The broken flesh began to undulate and glow beneath the digits. Blood dripped down, oozing over his fingers and flowing in a crimson river down the already saturated cloth of the blonde’s tunic. Raenef let out a ragged sigh of relief as the pain eased off some. His head ceased its pounding.

After a long moment, Krayon brought his hands down and wiped them on his robes. To Raenef’s surprise, sweat dotted the older man’s forehead. He glanced down at his middle. He was dismayed to see the open laceration still plainly visible.

Krayon noted the crushing disappointment on the boy’s face. “As I promised I would,” he tried to explain, “I did what I could. But holy weapons are not easy to combat. Especially ones wielded by someone of so much power. I... I cannot do anymore for it.” Raenef’s eyes widened in shock. Krayon’s powers had their limit? Well, of course they did, but the man was willing to admit it?

“Will it heal with time?” the blonde asked uncertainly.

“I don’t know, unfortunately. I can only hope it will. But it’s a deep wound, and I believe it may have gone far enough into your body to interrupt the flow of your powers. If it has... the initial break will refuse to heal, and the holy magic will try to purify your whole body.”

Fear edged into his voice again. “Purify me?” He swallowed hard.

“Yes... purify.” Krayon folded his arms. “I’ve only heard of one occurrence of such a thing, but from what I know, it wasn’t pretty. It’s what normal holy magic does to demons, but slowly, and from the inside out.”

“Disintegration...” Raenef shuddered and his stomach heaved.

Quickly he continued, “But with the Raenef name has always followed great strength. If this happens, I think you will last a very long time.”

The boy, now quivering, snatched Krayon’s sleeve, clenching it in a bloody fist. “But you’re saying I will die. I... is there... is there any way to stop it??”

The older demon lord shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear the intensity in the young man’s eyes. “Now calm down. I know very little about healing and holy sorcery. I may be completely wrong. One demon who lives in my castle, however, specializes in those fields. I’ll take you home with me-” The hand on his sleeve stiffened. “-and he’ll see you. He’ll know what to do.” He made a move to gather the bloody boy into his arms.

In an act reminiscent of a month previous, a tendril of darkness shot through the air and snapped at his extended limbs. He refuses my compassion again? Krayon thought in surprised ire. What’s wrong with this boy’s wits? He withdrew his arms immediately. Only at this moment did the boy release the sleeve. “Raenef, what is going on?” Krayon demanded. “I don’t understand your sudden streak of independence! It would ordinarily be a good thing, but we both know you could die without proper medical attention! No... you will die without it!!”

“The clerics didn’t target only me!” Raenef returned with intensity. “I remember now: just before they showed up for me, I was looking out the window. I saw another column of smoke exactly like the one coming from my palace, out in the distance. What do you think would happen if they sensed two demon lords in the same place? They’ll go after you right away if I return with you. The risk is too great.” He slipped slowly off the rock. He let his weight settle on his feet; it was easier than he’d expected. Still, he reached behind him and grasped the stalwart mass for balance.

“Raenef-”

“Shut up.” He pointed a crimson finger at the older man. Something glinted in his eyes. “The smartest thing for me to do is to leave you now, travel to a city somewhere, and start a new life, forgetting that I was ever Demon Lord Raenef. At least for however long I have left to live. So that’s what I will do.”

He pushed off against the rock, wavered on his feet briefly. But he steadied himself, then began walking down the path, right hand cradling his wound again.

Bewildered by this unforeseen defiance, Krayon took a step after him, making one last attempt. “You’re willing to just die now??”

The boy paused. “...better me than one of my friends.”

“How will you live??”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’ll figure that out when I get where I’m going.”

“And where’s that?”

“Not sure.”

“You know I’ll come after you. You can’t escape this life entirely.”

A small smile crept unbidden across his lips. “Yes... I know.” He seemed ready to resume his departure,  but he hesitated. It had been eating at him, and he had to say something before he left for good. “Krayon... will you do me a favor?”

_____________

Far across the scene of carnage, in the almost exactly opposite direction, Eclipse let out a hacking cough. He’d barely escaped the explosion, and he’d ended up inhaling quite a bit of smoke. Nothing serious for a demon of his caliber, but irritating enough. But that wasn’t what plagued his mind.

Had Raenef escaped safely?

Eclipse had been combing the forest surrounding the palace wreckage with his sense for the better part of an hour. But so far, he’d had no results. He couldn’t find the boy’s unique trace, and he could feel repressed panic swelling within his breast. He couldn’t have left the forest, could he? Certainly not. The blonde was injured, he’d never get very far.

And that injury was another portion of his fear. How badly had the boy been hurt? There’d been no time to examine it before he’d hustled the young demon lord out of the palace. What if it was life-threatening? What if he simply bled to death? What if the clerics who’d escaped followed him and captured him??

The wind whistled above him.

“You’re a sitting duck out here, Eclipse.”

The demon glanced above him. Sure enough, the irritating Krayon hovered above him on the wind. Oddly, he was missing his trademark smirk. And were those bloodstains on either side of his robes? Eclipse frowned at that. Where could those have come from? Krayon was usually so meticulous... so...

Krayon noticed Eclipse’s eyes widen. “You assume correctly,” he said. “I have seen the boy.”

“You did! You saw Lord Raenef!” Eclipse would have leapt to his feet had he not been standing already. “Where is he? Is he alright? Tell me!”

“I would, if you’d give me a moment to speak!” he snapped. He huffed as the raven-haired demon closed his mouth, eyes smoldering. “There. Was that so hard?” Krayon alighted gracefully on the ground, arms folded, expression beyond aggravated. “Now. Raenef is injured. Stay silent!!" he nearly barked as Eclipse made as if to speak. “I did what I could for him, but his wound was dealt by a holy weapon, and I could not hope to heal such damage. He refused my offer for further medical attention, and left.”

“Left? Left to where??” Eclipse demanded.

“A city. If he had one in mind, he would not tell it to me.”

Eclipse lowered his gaze to stare at nothing in particular. He couldn’t believe this. It was truly all his fault. He had failed in his duties as a servant, as a teacher, as a potential lover...

Seeing his despair, Krayon spoke again. “He wanted me to give you something.”

“Did he.” Eclipse lifted his head again.

“He said that if you go looking for Demon Lord Raenef, you will never find him. And this.” Krayon flung something at the other demon, then vanished with the wind.

Eclipse caught it, blinking at the sudden disappearance. He opened his hand.

It was the heavy signet ring of the Raenef name.