Demon Hearts

Nyssa strapped on her knapsack and pulled her best coat tight around her torso. She took one last look around at the cottage. Dim light filtered through the windows, highlighting dust, dampness, and the empty kitchen. On impulse, she reached back and grabbed her Stuffy and tucked him between her bag strap and chest. The age-worn wolf-dragon stuffed animal sagged against the pressure. 

There was nothing left for her here now. It was time to leave.

She didn’t look back as she broke through the eastern forest line. West would take her to the nearby town, but her mom’s job didn’t take her there. Branches and brush clawed at her hair and shoulders and she pressed onward.

Her mom didn’t like her on this side of the forest, but she hadn’t come back in the three days she had promised to. Nyssa couldn’t stay put after a full week had passed. 

She wasn’t prepared for a journey through these woods. She knew nothing other than that there was a bridge where the forest broke. It was supposedly so large, so out of place in its silver stone, that she shouldn’t be able to miss it.

The trees grew denser, the day grew darker. Shadows edged closer. Nyssa felt too loud for the nighttime quiet when a boom of thunder shook her. Soon the pattering of rain surrounded her, closed in on her, as water cascaded from the foliage and seeped through her coat.

Nyssa hurried forward.

Her mom would be back. She should be already. It’s never taken her this long. 

Each step was a squelch, a splash, a slip waiting to happen. But she would be that much closer to her mom. She wouldn’t leave her. She wouldn’t.

Another roll of thunder and the wind sent a branch into Nyssa. She went sprawling. Mud embraced her pants, her best coat, her hair. She shook off the impact and hauled herself to her feet. The rain pelted her now. She could feel it in her bones. It was too cold. It was too wet.

Nyssa clutched Stuffy closer to her chest and trudged on. The bridge must be near. It had to be. Her mom must be near.

Just when she thought she had been properly disoriented by her fall, Nyssa caught a glimpse of silver as lightning struck the sky. 

She collapsed underneath the structure, marveling at the sheer length. It would take minutes for her to walk from one end to the other. She tucked herself into the corner of one end, peering out at the curtain of water closing in where she had come from. The storm had come from nowhere.

She didn’t dare glance past the stream of vines covering the other side. She wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to stay put. To get supplies from the village at worst. Yet, here she was.

Nyssa decided she’d wait out the storm here. Rest, then face the other side in proper daylight. 

She pulled out an apple from her bag and slid her Stuffy from his strap. She offered a bite to the matted fur of his snout. She imagined Stuffy rather enjoyed the food. His button eyes stared back at her as she took her first bite.

“Mom always comes back,” she said. “You think she’s alright, right?”

Stuffy looked concerned.

“I think she’s alright. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was just on the other side of the bridge, waiting out the storm too. Then she’ll be so happy to see us. We’ll be okay. We are doing the right thing.”

Stuffy’s damp core and mud-streaked limbs didn’t agree. He was right. They knew nothing of what was on the other side. They knew nothing of where her mom went on these business trips. They hadn’t an idea of where to start.

“I have an idea… Hear that?”

The crashing pattering of the rain had ceased. Though it was dark on her side of the forest, a soft glow filtered through the vines shielding the other side of the bridge.

“Let’s see what’s there, shall we?”

Stuffy looked nervous.

“Don’t worry. I’ll always take care of you.”

Nyssa held tight to Stuffy. Together they faced the other side as she parted the vines.

The woods thinned out to a clearing. A brook ran through it, full from the storm. The sun was setting then, a golden hue to the still gray skies. It was hope just peeking out at them.

For a moment, Nyssa didn’t think of her mom, didn’t think about being alone. She was simply captured in awe of the view. It was triumph, being here alive against all rules. She would savor it.

She crossed the border and leaned against the structure of the bridge and took another bite of her apple. She would finish it then press onward, though the decision of which direction to proceed in worried a hole in her appetite.

“I guess we follow the brook,” she said, offering Stuffy another bite. “Civilization structures itself near bodies of water, I think.”

Stuffy’s answer was interrupted as a flash of indigo crashed into Nyssa. It snatched the apple from her, rebounded off of her, and shot back in the direction she thought it had come from. 

It would have been well and good if not Stuffy being caught in the creatures grasp. The shape of it, the feel of it. Nyssa had felt fur, scales, and leather.. She had caught a vague glimpse of its shape. It looked uncannily like Stuffy--a wolf with the wings and spiked tail of a dragon. 

Her mother had made Stuffy--a friendly demon-wolf to keep the other demons at bay. A friend in the darkness, a remedy for loneliness. It was proof for a young Nyssa that the stories of creatures changed by darkness, demons that took and took until they were satiated, were not to be feared.

You cannot trust appearances. Demons may have the hearts of angels. Angels may have the appetite of monsters. You trust nothing and nobody except yourself and your mom, understood?

Nyssa trusted her mom. She trusted that she would survive whatever dangerous job she wouldn’t speak of. And yet…

Nyssa watched the creature slow, watched it flex its tail and stretch a single wing. It was a demon from the stories, a creature that shouldn’t exist, and it was trotting away from the brooks path with Stuffy and apple in mouth.

She trusted herself. She promised she’d take care of Stuffy. She promised herself she wouldn’t be afraid. 

Against her better judgment, she followed.

---

The sun had set when Nyssa's boots hit stone, and she found herself in a place bathed in a warm, rosy light. Shadows played across the grays and browns that stretched across the hillside, leading to the dark waters of the sea. The humidity and salt in the air told her she had arrived at the coast.

Ahead, her target darted around a corner. 

She followed right into a closed off alley. The demon-wolf settled, Stuffy tucked under its paw and the apple poised to be devoured. It looked at her with bright sunset-colored eyes.

Nyssa produced the last food she had left, a stale loaf of bread. She ripped it and offered the demon-wolf half. “Here. You seem hungry, and I’d like Stuffy back…”

There was a flicker of understanding in the demon-wolf’s eyes.

To Nyssa’s surprise, it took it gently from her hand. Before eating, it brought the bread down to Stuffy’s level, as though feeding it. After eating, the demon-wolf lifted its paw off Stuffy and nudged it closer to Nyssa.

She kneeled closer to retrieve Stuffy and took a closer look at the creature.

The demon-wolf was a female and dusk incarnate. She was a beautiful creature despite the dirt matting her indigo fur and midnight wings. Neon pink was crusted at the tip of her barbed tail, likely venom.

Nyssa reached out and gently stroked the back of her neck. There was a missing patch of fur, making way for the brand of a lightning bolt. Her concern melted when a rumble emanated from her. “Can I call you Dusk?”

Another rumble as Nyssa stroked along her back. Then a flinch.

Dried pink in a deeper hue than her tail was congealed onto a wing. It was blood, still seeping from a gash at the base of her wing.

Nyssa carefully examined it, heart aching at the knowledge that Dusk had clearly been through some hardships. Gently, she cleaned the wound as best she could and wrapped it with a torn piece of her coat.

Dusk nuzzled into Nyssa and relaxed into a laying position. Nyssa curled up beside her, Stuffy in arm, grateful for the shared warmth and company in this new city.

---

When morning came, Nyssa and Dusk ventured deeper into the city. The streets were bustling with vendors hawking their wares. Weapons, clothing, jewelry, home goods, and just about anything Nyssa could imagine surrounded her. But the most enticing of all was the food. 

Her stomach growled at the sweet smokey scent of meat as they passed. It smelled so similar to the barbeque her mother would make after a successful business trip.

She must have stared for too long because there was a tap at her shoulder.

A man a few inches taller and twice her width gestured at the meat. “You and your pup seem hungry. Let me get you some.”

Nyssa didn’t have a chance to reply before he was putting a skewer into her hands. She eyed it warily. But he took a bite himself and she was feeling light-headed, so she accepted the gift and hoped it wasn’t too good to be true.

Dusk aggressively took the meat off the skewer he offered, then stepped in front of Nyssa. It was a new stance, wide and low. Alert.

“Where did you come across this pup, here?”

Nyssa looked, but there was no sign of malicious intent in the man. “Around.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Interesting. Did you ever notice a lightning bolt symbol on her?”

Nyssa went alert. She stepped out from behind Dusk, masking the motion with a gentle pet to her head. Nyssa smiled at the man. “No, I haven’t,” she was firm in her reply.

“Interesting. I see it right there on her neck. Your pup rightfully belongs to the Tempest.” 

In the instant before Nyssa yelled for Dusk to run, the man lunged for her. Nyssa put herself between them. She fought tooth and nail against him, clung to him with all her might. 

He shoved her off. The ground sent pain in waves up the arm she landed on.

It would have been well worth Dusk’s escape, except the damn creature launched herself at the man. Dusk sunk her teeth into his hip, hot pink venom leaking from her jaws and astoundingly, dripping right off the man’s somehow resistant pants.

Nyssa stumbled toward them. She reached for them, panting, as the man reached for something in his pocket. She pushed harder, struggling to breathe. Then she took a throatful of a cold mist that he sprayed at her. 

Darkness smothered her senses.

---

“What did they do to her?”

Tears prickled at the corners of Nyssa’s eyes at the sound. “Mom?” she groaned. The word came out slurred. “Dusk?”

Warm hands and strong arms cradled her. She felt the pilled and patchy fabric of Stuffy against her neck. 

“My sweet Nys, I’m here.” It was none other than her mom.

The world came back into focus slowly. The sky was bright, searing her eyes as she forced them open.

Nyssa struggled to sit up, leaning on her mom. She faced endless sea beyond the walls of a ship. Behind was the dock and whatever city she had found. 

She would have thought it was her mom’s ship, except cages surrounded her, filled with different demon creatures. A serpentine creature with four legs, a barbed tail, and three heads, each holding the face of a different beast. A bear whose back was studded in crystalline rocks and poison dripping spikes. Another beast with a feathered face and furry torso. All dirty, sedated, and imprisoned in cages too small to move in.

Dusk was crammed in a cage nearby. Her wings had been bound tightly to her body and her barbed tail was wrapped in gauze, faintly leaking pink venom. She must have been exhausted, but her vibrant eyes still held a flicker of hope as Nyssa met her gaze.

“Mom,” Nyssa managed to croak. “We have to get Dusk out of here. What is this?”

Her mom’s brow creased. “I was late coming back because I needed to find your Dusk. She got out before the latest shipment.”

Shipment?

Nyssa’s mind scrambled. She knew her mom was a merchant that brought goods overseas, back and forth. “You trade demons?” She was incredulous. “I thought you sold wine and weapons!”

“Well… they are weapons.”

“Weapons,” she repeated. “Or toys or entertainment or painfully mistreated pets, right? It doesn’t matter as long as you’re bringing home coin?”

“Yes!” Her mother’s face contorted in the way it only did when she was upset. “I provide for you. My job is to keep you safe. You don’t understand how dangerous this world is or what is coming. If you want to survive, you have to make it happen.”

“By mistreating these creatures?” Nyssa pushed away from her mom.

“These demons would eat you alive if they were free.”

“And they’ll eat whoever their new owners decide once they get purchased, won’t they?”

Nyssa glared and took her bag back from her mom. She strode to Dusk’s cage, hoping her mom couldn’t see the tremors in her legs, pulled out her switchblade, and started picking the lock.

“Don’t you dare, Nys.”

In moments, Dusk was freed. She butted her head into Nyssa’s thigh and urged her to release the rest of the demon creatures.

“I can’t believe you made me worry about you.”

“Nys, you don’t understand!” Her mother watched, torn.

Nyssa didn’t stop until all the cages were opened. She looked at her mother, resolute. “I am not leaving them here. They deserve better than to be bought and sold like commodities. They are not weapons. They are not objects.”

“I can’t let you do this.” Her mother faced her with a look she had never seen before. She whistled high and sharp. Two demon creatures lined up at her sides -- a scaled feline that glowed deep red under its skin and an onyx bull-like creature with metal horns. She reached for the sword at her belt.

 “Stop now, Nys. I am ordering you.” The threat in her voice was impossible to ignore.

Nyssa stared at the blade, at the two creatures at her side. Her mom didn’t waver.

She thought of her mom tucking her into bed with Stuffy, stroking her hair and telling stories about angel hearts and demon appetites until she fell asleep. She supposed Tempest would know a thing or two about that.

Nyssa glanced back at Dusk and the other freed creatures. She knew she couldn’t protect them all alone, and she didn’t want to face her mom like this. 

She put her hands up. Her mother lowered her sword.

“Help me understand, Mom. Why are you doing this? What reason?”

Her mother’s gaze held a mixture of determination and something Nyssa didn’t recognize. “It’s time I teach you what it takes to survive in this world. To be strong, unyielding. In this realm, you are crushed if you cannot make the hard choices.”

“You’re taking me prisoner then?”

“Training, imprisonment… You can tell me what the difference is in a few months.”

Her mother had no intention of changing. But she had yet to give a good reason for her actions. It wasn’t the mother Nyssa knew and she wouldn’t stand for it.

Nyssa’s resolve hardened as she recalled Dusk’s loyalty and kindness. She silently vowed to herself that would find a way to set them free. She would find a way to make her mom change. And she would take on whatever dangers to the realm her mother spoke of to make it happen.

It would all begin with a hard decision.

“Where do we start?”