The scent of burning thatch filled Kael's nostrils as he stared at the horned woman. His chest still hummed with stolen power, the golden energy coursing through his veins like liquid fire. Around them, Hollow's End burned - homes collapsing in showers of sparks, livestock screaming in their pens. The remaining Inquisitors had retreated to the village outskirts, forming a loose perimeter with their silver-tipped spears glinting in the firelight.
The creature before him tilted her head, obsidian horns catching the glow of the flames. Up close, her eyes weren't just slitted - they swirled with galaxies of crimson and gold, pupils contracting as she studied him. "You don't even know what you are, do you?" she purred, circling him like a cat would a wounded bird.
Kael wiped blood from his split lip. "I know enough to recognize a demon when I see one."
A rich laugh echoed through the square. "Oh, little thief of hearts, if I were truly demonkind, your soul would already be digesting in my belly." She stopped abruptly, her clawed fingers catching his chin. "I'm something far more dangerous."
Behind them, Lira moaned in pain. Kael turned to see her slumped against the well, her fingers clutching at the crossbow bolt protruding from her chest. Blood seeped between her fingers in rhythmic pulses, each beat weaker than the last.
Kael moved toward her, but the horned woman's grip tightened. "She's dead already," the creature murmured. "The Inquisitors always poison their bolts."
As if to prove her point, black veins began spiderwebbing outward from Lira's wound, creeping up her neck. Her breathing turned ragged, each exhale frothing pink at her lips.
Kael's hands balled into fists. The strange energy in his chest surged in response, making his fingertips tingle. "I can save her."
The demon's smirk faded. "At what cost, princeling? You barely understand the power you've stumbled into." She leaned close, her breath smelling of pomegranates and decay. "That golden light you stole? That was a man's capacity to love. His memories of his mother's lullabies. The way his heart raced when he first kissed his wife."
A chill ran down Kael's spine. He looked at his hands - still faintly glowing. "I didn't mean to..."
"Of course you didn't." The horned woman's claws traced the line of his jugular. "But intention means nothing to the dead. Only consequence."
Lira coughed violently, a spray of crimson dotting the dirt. Her eyes found Kael's, wide with pain and something worse - betrayal.
The demon sighed dramatically. "Very well. Let's make a bargain, you and I." She produced a dagger from her sleeve - the blade forged from what looked like black glass. "My knowledge for a taste."
Kael's mouth went dry. "A taste of what?"
"Of you, sweetling." The dagger's tip pressed against his sternum. "Just a sip of whatever makes you... different."
Somewhere beyond the smoke, the Inquisitors began chanting. The air hummed with gathering power - they were preparing another attack.
Lira's fingers twitched in the dirt, tracing weak patterns. Kael remembered how those same hands had mended his shirts when the seams tore. How they'd passed him extra bread during last winter's famine.
He grabbed the demon's wrist. "Do it."
Her grin turned feral. The dagger plunged.
White-hot agony erupted through Kael's chest as the black glass blade drank deep. The world dissolved into fractured images:
- A banquet hall with ceilings so high they vanished in shadow, filled with creatures that had too many eyes or not enough
- A silver-haired woman weeping over an empty cradle
- A mountain of skulls, each one whispering secrets as he passed
When the visions cleared, the demon was licking the blade clean, her eyes glowing like forge coals. "Oh," she breathed. "You're no mere anomaly. You're the key."
Before Kael could respond, she grabbed his hand and pressed it against Lira's wound. "Now take."
The command ignited something primal in Kael's gut. His fingers curled into Lira's flesh as the golden light surged forth - but this time, he didn't just pull energy from around him. He reached deeper.
He felt the Inquisitors first - their fanatical devotion to the Church like a bitter tonic on his tongue. Next came the villagers hiding in their cellars - their terror a metallic tang. Further still, the forest creatures fleeing the smoke - their simple panic like overripe fruit.
Kael drank it all.
The power roared through him, a flashflood threatening to burst his veins. When it reached Lira, her back arched violently. The crossbow bolt disintegrated into black dust as the poison veins retreated. Color flooded back into her cheeks.
Then the screaming started.
All around the village perimeter, Inquisitors collapsed, clutching their heads. Villagers stumbled from hiding places, their eyes blank and confused. A flock of birds fell from the sky like stones.
Lira sat up, gasping. Her hands flew to her unmarked chest. "What did you—"
Her words cut off as she truly looked at Kael. At his eyes - now glowing faintly gold. At the black veins creeping up his neck where the demon's dagger had pierced him.
The horned woman laughed delightedly. "Oh, this is precious. You saved her life by damning everyone else." She gestured to the writhing Inquisitors. "They'll never love again. Never feel anything but hunger for what you stole."
Kael's stomach turned. He could still taste their stolen emotions - a cacophony of flavors coating his tongue.
Lira scrambled backward until her spine hit the well. "What are you?" she whispered.
The demon answered for him, her voice giddy: "The beginning of the end." Shadows gathered around her feet, swirling up to engulf them both. "And we have so much work to do."
As darkness swallowed them whole, Kael's last sight was Lira's face - not grateful, not relieved, but staring at him with the same horror she'd once reserved for the Inquisitors.