Growing up, I have been taught, made to fear and hate, and drilled into my head of "She."
No name, nothing, just "She." I didn't know who she was or what she looked like, all I've been taught about her was to fear and hate. And over and over again, it was drilled into my head that the purpose of my birth was to kill her if she ever awakened again.
I've been alive for hundreds of years, yet the day for me to fulfill that purpose never came, and I stopped taking it seriously as the years passed. But then twenty-three years ago, I felt it. We all did. All of us in the underworld—even those up in the sky—felt it.
A shift in the world. A slight tremble. Something had been born. A meeting was held, and all councils in the heavens and down here in the underworld came together. Angels and demons were sent out to investigate, but when they came back, what they said was, "She's weak. A human. Her powers are locked away and she doesn't remember who she was."
I could still feel the relief that went round the place. I could still taste how heavy it was.
Who was she? If the heavens and hell could be afraid of her, just who is she?
I had asked that question over and over again, but no one answered. They all knew what happened and what was going to happen. All but me. I was the one left in the dark.
I stopped asking questions after that. But now as I stood before my brother and he told me she was awakening, the questions came flowing. "I can't keep being in the dark like this, brother," I growled as I stepped closer to him. "I can't keep being the fool. I need my questions answered. Who the fuck is she? What is she? What does she look like? And why do I have to kill her?"
My brother just gave me the look he always gave me. That look that grated on my nerves and made me want to grab him by the neck even though he was my king.
"When the time comes, Kaelvaren," Malrik said, his voice soft, "you'll know."
"And when is that time?" I asked as I took another step closer to him, my clenched fists trembling. "Huh? It's been years. Hundreds of years. So when will the damn time come?"
"You do not question your king," he snarled, grubbing the arm of his throne.
"I have the right to!" I shouted, and my voice boomed, shaking the walls, rattling the doors. I took a deep breath, calming myself. There was no need to keep this on. Nothing was going to come out of it. "She's awakened, you say?"
Malrik looked at me before he leaned back on his throne. "No. But she's getting there. You must stop her."
"By killing her?"
"I've received words from the heavens and they don't want her dead," he answered, his tone bitter, showing his disapproval of that.
"If she's so powerful and dangerous, shouldn't she be killed now that she's not fully awakened?"
"Exactly. I stated that to the archangels, but they brushed it aside. I don't know what they're up to, but it's no good."
The archangels… Those bastards high up in the sky who think they know it all. They think they held all the power and did as they wished. But they've only ever done more harm than good.
The war that broke out thousands of years ago was because of the archangels. But because of one in particular; Lucifer. My father and the reason we had to bow to the archangels. The reason we answer to them and bow to them even though we were worlds apart.
"So what now?" I asked. "What do I have to do if I'm not going to kill her?"
"You'll go to the human world," Malrik answered, and my eyes widened. "You'll take the form of a human. Live like that, and keep an eye on her. Only when you notice anything off about her are you meant to kill her."
I stared at my brother in disbelief. "This is a joke, right? I should live among humans? Look like them?"
When my brother said nothing and just stared back at me, I nodded to myself. There was no use arguing. "How am I supposed to keep an eye on her when I don't know what she looks like?"
Malrik picked up his wine. "Trust me, Kaelvaren, you'll know as soon as you set your eyes on her. It'll feel like it clicks." The anger fades and I just stare at him, pondering his words. "You leave tomorrow."
I turned and left, not bothering to bow. If the king had a problem with that, it was his problem.
I walked to my room, slamming the door shut. I rested both my hands on the door, my head bowed, trying to breathe through the rising anger. But it was no damn use.
I walked into my room, heading to the bathing chamber but then I passed the mirror and I stopped, turning to it. I was going to look human from tomorrow. I was going to hide all the features that made me… me.
I slammed my fist into the mirror, but instead of shattering, it blackened, smoke coming from it. Then a crack, and finally it shattered, broken glass flying everywhere. Some pierced into my flesh but I barely felt.
I was told not to kill her, but I wasn't really sure about that. She was making my life difficult even though I had never seen her before.
When I see her, I might just snap, and then, well…