7.

  Late that night, Tav steeled through the halls of the academy far later then the curfew would allow. She kept tight to the walls, looking over corners and making sure he little extra-curricular trip wouldn’t be interrupted. She made her way to the central staircase, and down to the basement of the academy.

  The lower levels of the academy were off-limits to new students. Usually, to access them you had to at least finish your first year, spend a summer studying under professors, and be chosen for the advanced research projects that the academy performed in the off-limits sections of these great and winding caverns.

  The lights that were usually so bright and vivid in the higher levels of the Academy, were dim and low with a glow of red to them here in the deepest basement. Tav entered a long hallway, a narrow bridge with no rails over a giant pit that lead to a central hub. With every step down the pathway, she felt more nerve by what she would find at the end of this path rather than the seemingly bottomless pit on either side of her.

  She could feel the darkness gathering as she approached the center of the basement. Down the great hall, a circle of mighty arches surrounded a glass dome that held inside it a swirling mass of black ichor floating within it. Tav took a deep breath, as the Ichor seemed to notice her, turning whatever could be called its face towards her. Tav approached the glass dome and put her hand on it, the Ichor threw a black ink-like appendage towards her pressing it against the glass meeting Tav’s hand.

  The Ichor’s voice shuddered and radiated throughout the great hall, but at the same time felt as if it was speaking directly into Tav’s ear, “Blood of my blood, scion of darkness, I have awaited you,” it gurgled.

  “My mother told me you would be here, and she told me you could help me,” Tav said, removing her hand and trying to stand tall against that great demon.

  “Your mother…yes…how is sister?” The ichor warped and ungulated, if you were looking for it, you could say that it formed into a kind of smile as it looked upon the young half-demon. The Demon Hunters who captured this beast, and the professors who spent countless hours of the day studying it, had no idea that one of their newest students was related to this monster. This demon’s name was Regdradan, from the line of Regilis, scion of the Archdemon Rhadies, brother to Xisira the Seductress Demoness and mother of Tav, this demon was her uncle by way of her demonic blood.

  “Have you come to free me, have you come to do your works and fight these foolish hunters,” its voice was raspy and sent a shudder down Tav’s spine.

  “No, I’m not here to free you, and I’m not here to fight hunters, I am a hunter, like my father before me,” Tav said, digging her heels in and trying to speak with confidence in front of this great monster.

  “Do not conceal yourself, child, let me look upon your true self,” it rasped.

  Tav closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and reached behind her neck, undoing the clasp on her necklace and removing it, putting it in her pocket. As the necklace left her neck, her true form appeared Her skin a pitch paler, her hair a dark violet, and her horns showing.

  “So beautiful,” another tentacle emerged from the swirling ichor and pressed against the glass moving down, “You are every bit as beautiful as sister, she should be proud,” it rasped.

  “I’m not beautiful,” Tav looked away, “That’s why I’m here,” she said, gathering her courage back to look upon the blob of concentrated evil separated from her by only a thin globe of glass, and several Demon Hunter enchantments.

  The Ichor warped and formed into a fist, beating against the glass. Each thump caused Tav to want to step back, but she held firm to her position, “Mother told me that you knew a ritual, old magics, something that could help me,” Tav said, gritting her teeth and doing her best to not be intimidated by this force of pure evil before her.

  “Yes, you seek the old magics, you seek to forsake your own blood,” the Ichor warped into the form of a great demon, the tips of its wings pressing and folding against the glass sphere, “You would forsake your heritage, forsake your power,” it warped back into a blob and began to twist around the glass, “Such a disappointment,” it mocked her.

  “Are you going to give me what I want or not, Mother told me what the price would be, I’m willing to pay it,” Tav said, “If you give me what you want, I’ll let you out,” she said. “The Demon Hunters caught you once, they’ll just catch you again anyway, I know they can. I’ll give you a momentary reprieve in exchange for my desire. If you give me what I want, I’ll hold up my end,” Tav said.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “What is thy desire?” the Ichor formed into a cylinder of undulating black mass.

  “You already know it, forsake my blood, get this damn curse out of me,” Tav looked down, bit her lip, then looked back up,

  “Make me human,” she said, straight-faced and determined.

  “Mother said you have that power. If you make me a human I will free you, and that will be the end of my dealings with your kind,” she said.

  “You would give up your power, forsake your beauty,” A blob of the Ichor again pushed against the glass, “To take your beauty from you would be a tragedy, so beautiful,” it said.

  “Stop saying that! I’m not beautiful! This damn blood you speak of, this curse, this makes me ugly, makes me unwanted,” a tear welled up in her eye. “I just want to be normal,” she clenched her first into a ball and looked back up at the swirling Ichor, “You have two choices, you stay in here, rotting and getting poked and prodded by the Demon Hunters, or you can help me, and I’ll let you out and you can try to avoid getting captured again. I know that the Demon Hunters will be able to defeat you, so either way, it’s no skin off my back. Now, are you going to give me what I want? Or should I just leave you here to rot?” Tav said.

  “Tavalia, daughter of Xisira, demonic beauty, I could never refuse you, dear niece,” The Ichor curved into what could be called a smile again, “Your happiness outdoes any wish I have for your care, I will help you,” it began to swirl around again.

  “Just promise me one thing,” Tav said.

  “I have already agreed to your deal, you would alter it?” The Ichor said, its voice dark and ominous, tempting and tantalizing, “What would dear Sister’s scion ask of me, in exchange for my freedom?”

  “Don’t hurt anyone in the academy, I know that you’re probably angry about what they’ve been putting you though,” Tav said, “But once I free you, you need to leave, get back to the surface, and do whatever your demonic works are, the hunters will find you again so it doesn’t matter to me, just promise me you won’t hurt anyone in the academy on the way out. I’ll break this prison you have, but you have to promise me you won’t just go on a killing spree once you get out,” Tav’s heart was beating so fast. All she had was this demon’s word, and even at that, if he did make this promise there would be nothing to stop him from murdering everyone in these great halls before breaking to the surface and being unleashed into the open world to do whatever devious demonic delights it wished to take part in.

  “Your terms are…acceptable,” the Ichor said, “When you break my prison, I will flee to the mortal world, and continue our great father’s works, come hunters or not,” it curved into another smile, “That is the price I will pay, just know that if it were it not for your request…” the Ichor blew up into a great and imposing form, “I would kill every hunter here,” the voice rasped with a violent flair before it twisted back on itself and pushed against the glass, “I will make that payment, but will you be able to make yours? Do you even know what your wish will turn you into it?” it asked, “To siphon the beauty from your blood, you would lose so much,” it said.

  “I don’t care what I lose, not when there’s this much to gain,” Tav said.

  “Your beauty gives you power, gives you might, you would lose your power,” it said.

  “I don’t care, I don’t even want to be a hunter. I didn’t come here to learn anything, I came here for this, this is why I’m here, I don’t care what I lose. If you can give me what I want, I would be willing to give up anything for it,” she looked down. She had been researching this ritual for years. Tav knew the cost that comes when a Half-Demon uses the ancient ritual she had been seeking. With her Demon Blood gone, so would go her powers, her ability to use magic, her skill in fighting, all of it, everything that made her special, made her so damn different, all of that would be gone. When she completed the ritual to become human, that’s all she would be, just a human. A normal person with no gifts of power, no talent, or uniqueness.

  But she would be human.

  No longer an outcast, no longer something that would make anyone flee the moment they discovered what she really was.

  “Regrettably, the world will lose such beauty,” the Ichor pressed against the glass, “But I find my captivity, and the idea of escaping it, worth certain prices,” it said.

  “So, are you going to help me or not? Do we have a deal?” Tav asked.

  “Yes,” the Ichor trembled, “As much as it pains me to steal from the world such unparalleled beauty as you have, the blood of my blood, I will aide you. Though your mother would never forgive me,” it curved back into a smile.

  Tav put her hand to the glass, “What do I need to do?” she asked, “What do I need for the ritual?”

  “Fang and Heart and Talon, earth and sea and sky, regents from the pure of our kind, they will absorb your power, your beauty, they will siphon your blood, and they will grant you your desire, and the power created from this will break my prison,” he said.

  “Fang, heart, talon,” Tav nodded, “Shouldn’t be too hard, they’re about to start letting us go on hunts, so I get these regents and I just bring them to you?” she asked.

  “Do not make this decision lightly, as much as I despise my captivity, I would be willing to wait for another way of escape to keep your beauty in this world,” it said, “But you would just find another of our kind to make this ritual with, so I may as well look out for myself,” it swirled around, “Bring me the regents, and I will show you what you must do,” he said.

  “I’ll get them, and you hold up your deal, don’t hurt anyone. At least don’t hurt anyone until you’re back out in the world where the hunters can find you again and bring you back here. And if you do get caught again, if they do bring you back here, don’t count on me to give you another way out,” Tav said.

  “Acceptable,” the Ichor stuck out another black tentacle, putting it to the glass, “Your pact is accepted,” it said, a shudder radiant through its body.

  “We have a deal,” Tav said, putting her hand against the glass.