Savage

Chapter 2

“Daraxerxes!”

Xev sighed heavily at the name he hated almost as much as the woman who’d given it to him. Rising from the dice game he’d been playing by himself, he turned to watch her appear in his dismal little room that had about as much personality as the shadow demons who usually spied on him at his mother’s behest.

“What are you doing?” Azura demanded.

“Avoiding you,” he answered honestly as he put his dice bag into his pocket.

As expected, those words caused her to backhand him. He ignored the pain of the blow. He was too used to them to feel it anymore. It was, after all, her standard greeting.

The first thing he’d learned when his mother died was that this bitch had no mercy or use for him, or anyone else.

Their hatred was a mutual thing, as the mere thought of Azura could wreck even his best mood. Though, to be honest, he expected that his was a little stronger than hers, given the fact she fueled his hatred every single day.

Licking the blood from his lips, he gave her an insolent stare. “Is that what you wanted?” To knock him around for no reason.

She hissed at him. “Watch your tongue!”

“I would if I had eyes in my mouth. Sadly, that task is impossible.”

She drew back to strike him again.

Xev vanished before she had the chance.

“Come back here, brat!”

He reappeared in the corner, where he floated above the floor with his black wings gently flapping, out of her reach. “Rather not.”

“You can’t hide from me!”

Willing to test that theory, he flew out the window and left her to rail at his fleeing shadow. There was no telling why she’d sought him, and honestly, he didn’t care. Her rages were legendary. The only good thing about them was that they didn’t usually last long. They were too violent. Not even such a crazy goddess could sustain them for long.

Skimming the sky, he looked down at the world where men and women lived. A world Azura was hellbent on destroying, for reasons only she knew. Though he suspected it was because she couldn’t stand for anyone to be happy.

For anyone to have peace.

He didn’t understand it. His aunt, Lilit, had tried to explain it to him many times.

“It’s not her fault, dear. We were born as we are. Three made of darkness and three of light.”

That had only confused him more as he stared at his golden-haired, golden-eyed aunt. “You’re not.”

“Like you, child, I’m both. Torn between the two. A foot in two graves, always.”

Xev was only now beginning to understand that last bit. While he had the same urge as his mother to lash out and destroy everything around him, especially whenever he was angry, he didn’t like watching others suffer.

Such as the little girl in the field below. She was crying over something, and that made him ache for her. Why was she so upset?

Curious, Xev flew closer.

No older than he was, she wore a plain, baggy dress that was far too large for her skinny limbs. Tears streaked her rosy cheeks.

“Mama!” Her scream ricocheted through the trees.

There was no mother to be found.

Had her mother died, like Michi had?

Wanting to help the unknown girl, Xev lowered himself to the human world and then tucked his wings into his skin so that they wouldn’t frighten her. He’d learned long ago that people didn’t like things that were different.

And his black, feathered wings were definitely different from their human bodies.

She ran past where he was hidden behind a tree.

“Are you all right?”

She turned toward him and screamed. Until she saw that he was a boy and not something scary.

If only she knew the truth…He could be scary if he wanted to. But he didn’t want to frighten her.

She paused in the midst of her screaming. “What are you doing here?”

“Standing.”

Unlike Azura, who hated whenever he stated the obvious, the girl laughed. “So you are.”

He took a step closer to her. “Why are calling for your mother?”

“I lost her.”

That explained it. “Did you forget where you put her?”

That made her laugh even harder. “No. I wandered off to chase a bunny. When I tried to find my way back to the stream where she was washing our clothes, I couldn’t find it.”

Oh. He’d never had that problem. Michi had refused to allow him out of his sight. And he’d tried to lose Azura, many times. Sadly, she always found him.

Xev held his hand out to the girl. “I can help.”

“Can you?”

He nodded. Finding people wasn’t very hard. But then, he wasn’t human. For some reason, he just knew where they were whenever he wanted someone.

She placed her hand in his and held tightly. That sensation was odd to him. He’d never touched a human before.

For an instant, he felt his mother’s powers rising inside him. They wanted to lash out and see her scream. To break the delicate bones in her hand and feel them burst in his palm.

But it was just a fleeting impulse. One he pushed down furiously. He would not be the monster who’d birthed him. He didn’t like seeing others suffer.

He wanted to be like Michi. Kind and generous. Someone who protected those who didn’t try to harm him.

So, he used his powers to search the wind and aether that surrounded them always. Michi had called it the voice of the universe. If one listened, one could find everything in it.

And he immediately saw her worried mother. Like her daughter, she was crying and calling out as she searched frantically in the forest. “Your name is Chani?”

“How did you know?”

Xev offered her a glib smile. “Your mother’s calling for you.”

“You can hear her?”

Nodding, he let go of her hand. “Follow me.” He started in the opposite direction of where the girl had been heading.

She refused to follow. “Are you sure this is right?” she asked, her voice trembling in fear.

“Positive. You can trust me, Chani. I’ll take you to your mother.”

Still, she hesitated before she decided to follow after him. “Are you from the village?”

“No.”

That seemed to confuse her. “Then where do you live?”

He started to answer, then stopped himself. They weren’t supposed to interact with humans. While he didn’t know what the punishment was, he knew Azura would gleefully mete it out to him. One thing he’d learned long ago was not to give his birth mother any reason to reach for a whip.

“Does it matter where I live?”

Chani screwed her face up. “Guess not.”

Now that he was with her, she no longer cried, and actually appeared happy.

Weird.

No one was ever happy when he was around.

That’s not true. Michi had always been happy whenever he was near.

Xev winced at the memory of his beloved mother. He did his best to never think of her. It hurt too much. Yet he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

Even now, he could see her beautiful face. Feel the warmth of her hugs. It was the only happiness he’d ever known. Probably the only happiness he’d ever have in his life. Maybe that was why he clung to it.

Although he was enjoying Chani’s company. Even if they didn’t speak, she was still comforting, and he had no idea why. Was this normal? The gods knew he never enjoyed the company of his mother’s demons or the other gods. They were a nasty lot he did his best to avoid at all costs.

Chani began to hum and sing.

After a few minutes, she stopped and eyed him. “Do you have name, boy?”

“Xev.”

“I’ve never heard that name before.”

He shrugged. “I’ve never heard Chani before, either.”

She laughed as she skipped beside him. “Then we’re both unique.”

Maybe. He wasn’t sure what would make a god unique. Humans either, for that matter. All he’d ever heard about them was that they were animals, incapable of rational thought. Though, to be honest, she seemed to be as smart as any god or demon he knew.

Smarter than many, actually.

She was definitely kinder and more fun. Unlike the others he knew, she wasn’t trying to hurt him. She seemed happy enough just to exist.

That was unfathomable to him.

And all too soon, they found her mother and a group of men who were searching the woods for her.

Xev paused as he watched Chani run into her mother’s arms. Weeping, the woman scooped her up and cradled her the way Michi used to hold him.

Sadness filled him as he watched them. I miss you, Mama. More than he could express. She’d been so kind and gentle.

Most of all, he missed having someone who worried about him. Someone who didn’t hit for no reason.

The girl’s mother rained kisses over Chani’s face until she saw him at the edge of their field. “Who is that?”

Chani smiled. “He’s my friend, Xev. He helped me find my way back to you.”

Her mother clutched Chani to her side as she walked toward Xev, while the men walked away and returned to wherever they’d come from. “I can’t thank you enough.”

He felt like he should say something, but he didn’t know what. He wasn’t used to gratitude. Only insults.

Biting his lip, he became nervous.

“Where do you live? I’d love to tell your parents what a wonderful boy you are.”

He couldn’t tell her where he lived. She’d never believe him, any more than Azura would believe he was a wonderful boy. Besides, Azura would probably hurt her for being human.

“I don’t have parents.” That was the truth, as neither his mother nor his father wanted much of anything to do with him. He might as well be an orphan. He’d have been better off as such.

She gasped at his words. “None?”

“My mama died.” Also true. He had never considered Azura his mother. Just a massive pain he’d rather avoid.

“What of your father?”

“Never met him.” Mostly because Michi had impressed upon him that meeting his father would be a very bad idea.

Azura hadn’t softened that opinion. He hates you and everything to do with you. He told me to kill you when you were born, and I should have. Why didn’t I listen to him? We all would have been better off!

Since Jaden had never made any attempt to see him, Xev had no choice other than to believe Azura and Michi that his father hated him and wanted him even deader than his birth mother did most days.

Chani’s mother gave him a sad expression. “I’m so sorry. You poor thing.”

How strange. He’d never felt particularly poor. In fact, he had everything he could need. Food. Clothes. Plenty of demons who envied him. Although that last bit had never made any sense. He’d gladly trade his life for one of theirs just so he wouldn’t have to deal with Azura.

No one had ever called him poor before. He wasn’t even sure what made someone poor.

The demons were right. Humans were peculiar.

With a smile, Chani’s mother held her hand out to him. “Would you like to come to our home? Least I could do is feed you for your kindness.”

Chani’s face lit up. “Oh, do come, Xev! My mother is the best cook in all the world!”

He scowled at her opinion. “Have you sampled all the food in the world?”

Chani looked confused, while her mother laughed.

“Come on, sweetling.”

Since he had nothing else to do and really didn’t want to go to his home, Xev trotted along after them.

“You really were lost,” he said as he noted how far Chani had traveled as she sought her mother.

“Right? I have no idea how I walked so far by accident.”

“Did you not realize it?”

Chani shrugged. “I kept thinking if I kept walking, I’d find something familiar.” She held her hand up to her lips so that she could speak to him behind her cupped fingers. “I didn’t find anything, until you. Had you not been there, I’d have been lost forever.”

Her mother shook her head. “How many times have I told you not to run off on your own?”

“I know, Mama. I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again. I promise.”

Shaking her head, her mom sighed heavily. “You have no idea what could have happened to you! I’m so glad Xev found you and not someone a lot scarier.”

Chani rolled her eyes as if she didn’t believe her mother.

“Your mom’s right, Chani. There are a lot of evil things that live only to make others cry. They’re bigger than you are and faster. When they catch you…” He broke off at memories he wished he didn’t have. “You should always stay with your mother. Stay close to home.” Like Michi used to tell him to do.

She’d been right about that, too.

Her mom stopped, then knelt down by his side. “Has someone hurt you, Xev?”

“Many times.”

She drew him into a hug like the ones Michi used to give him. “I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t understand why she was sorry. But he liked the hug. He’d missed them so much. There was nothing better he could imagine than the sensation of someone holding him close.

Kissing his cheek, the woman pulled away and ruffled his dark hair. She took his and Chani’s hands and walked them back to her small cottage.

A weird pain that he didn’t understand hit him hard in the center of his chest. “I’m sorry that I made you sad.”

Chani’s mother smiled down at him. “You don’t make me sad, Xev. The world does. It should never be hurtful to a child your age.” She lifted his hand up and gently kissed it.

Xev slowed as he saw their tiny home. It reminded him of his den with Michi. Except they’d never had furniture inside theirs. And that was okay. He hadn’t needed any. Michi’s fur had been the best bed imaginable.

Chani ran to the small table and sat in a chair.

Xev frowned as he saw the four other chairs around the table. “Do you have more people in your family?”

Chani laughed at his question. “My father. He’s away from home, selling our crops and some of Mama’s bread.” She reached for a bowl in the center of the table that had a cloth over it. Pulling back a corner, she showed him what it contained.

Xev sat down beside her as she handed him a piece of the loaf. He was expecting it to taste like the loaves they had at his mother’s palace.

But this was sweet and wonderful. “You’re right. Your mom is the best cook in all the world!”

Her mother laughed as she set down two glasses of milk for them. “I’m glad you like it, Lord Xev.”

“I love it!”

He spent the next hour sampling everything the woman put in front of him. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d eaten so much.

Indeed, his stomach felt as if it would burst. At the moment, he probably weighed so much that his wings wouldn’t be able to lift him from the ground. That was okay. He didn’t want to fly home.

He envied Chani for being able to eat like this all the time.

Her mother smiled at him. “I’m glad you like my food.”

“I do! It’s wonderful.” Xev reached for his glass and burped loudly. Heat scalded his cheeks. “I’m so sorry!”

Laughing, she patted him on the back. “Best compliment you could give me.”

Chani giggled. “Is there any cake, Mama?”

Xev smiled at his favorite word in the world. “Cake? You have cake, too?”

Chani’s mom laughed again. “Where are you two putting all this food? Are you sure you don’t have hollow legs?”

“I had a hollow belly, but it’s almost full now.” Xev screwed his face up as he thought about it. “But I’m sure there’s just enough room left inside it for some cake.”

Shaking her head, she walked to a small cabinet and opened it so that he could see the honey cake it had concealed.

Eyes wide, Xev exchanged an eager look with Chani.

“You’ll love it.”

“I know I will.” Rubbing his hands together, he could barely wait for her mom to cut him a slice. He dug in the moment she set it on the table in front of him.

It was just as good as Chani had predicted. Maybe better.

Her mother laughed at his eagerness. “Don’t lick the plate, dear. I have plenty more where that came from.”

Xev pulled away with a bashful grin. “It was so good that I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to make sure I got every last bit.”

With that beautiful smile, she kissed his head…then brought him another slice.

Xev dug in.

Where are you, brat?

He flinched at the sound of Azura’s shrewish voice in his head. It was as if she always knew whenever he was happy, and she sought to destroy it. Could he not have one day where she didn’t storm in and ruin everything?

Don’t answer. It never ended well when he answered, and he was having too much fun to be bothered with her.

So he ignored her summons.

They spent another hour laughing and having fun. Xev never wanted it to end.

But just when he was getting up from the table, the door burst open. Xev couldn’t breathe as he recognized the six demons who were under Azura’s control.

Chani and her mother screamed and tried to run, but the demons surrounded them. Clutching one another, the pair cried and begged for mercy.

He shoved the demon closest to him. “Leave them alone!”

“Xev, don’t. Just do what they say.” Tears streaked Chani’s mother’s beautiful face. “He’s just a boy. Don’t hurt him!”

Keramon turned on Xev with a hiss. “You should have answered when you were called.”

The demon turned toward Chani.

Xev screamed, then blasted the demon with a fire bolt. Normally when he did such, a white light shot out of his hands and knocked his target away.

This time…

Keramon exploded.

Eyes wide, Xev stared at his hands, unable to believe he’d done that. What was that?

The other demons shrank back from him.

Like he was his mother. That caused a sick lump in his stomach. He never wanted anyone or anything to recoil at his presence.

Not even a demon he hated.

His birth monster appeared instantly, as if Keramon’s death had summoned her. “What is going on here?”

He winced. The wrath on her face was legendary. He’d never seen her any angrier.

“Answer me!” she demanded.

“He’s protecting humans, lady.”

She arched a white eyebrow at that. “Pardon?”

The demon on his left gestured at Chani and her mother.

Terror whipped through Xev. There was no telling what she might do to them.

Without thinking, he ran and put himself between them and Azura.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” Each word was punctuated and spat between her clenched teeth.

He met his mother’s gaze without flinching. “Please don’t hurt them. They’re my friends.”

That only angered her more. She grabbed him and pulled him to stand in front of her. “Don’t worry. I’m not the one who’s going to kill them. You are.”

Xev’s stomach sank. “What? No!”

She twisted his arm so badly that it felt as if she’d wrench it from his shoulder. “Do it!”

Snarling, he shook his head. “Kill me!”

That caught her off guard. He saw the shock on her face. She wasn’t used to anyone ever refusing her orders. But he wasn’t anyone. He was her mistake, and they both knew it.

“Xev?”

The panic in Chani’s voice made him want to retch.

“You won’t harm them, you snake! I won’t let you.”

With a furious shriek, Azura threw him to her demons. “Take that home and watch that worthless slug until I get there!”

Xev tried to fight them, but Azura had done something so that he couldn’t. His powers wouldn’t work at all. He couldn’t even free his wings. He was utterly helpless.

Utterly pissed.

“Don’t you dare touch them!” Those were the last words he said before the demons hauled him home.

Fear and grief mixed inside him as he looked at the gilded throne room and the demons who were stationed around him to keep him from leaving. Growling, he felt his powers surging. He had to go help Chani and her mother. He owed them that much.

Xev tried to leave.

A demon caught him and knocked him back.

Xev hissed as pain exploded across his cheek.

Laughing, another demon stepped forward to hit him.

In that moment, something inside him snapped. He’d been hit one time too many. Tortured more than anyone should be. He was done with it.

I’m not an animal.

He was a god…

His wings sprang from his back at the same time he felt a massive electrical surge through his entire body. A sonic boom radiated from within him, throwing the demons back. The windows around him shattered…

Along with his mother’s throne.

Xev had never felt anything like this. Throwing his head back, he roared with the ferocity of emotions he couldn’t even begin to explain.

It broke whatever spell his mother had placed on him and allowed him to return to the small cottage where he’d known the first real peace he’d experienced since Michi died.

Flames lit the darkness as they licked against the wood and thatch of Chani’s little cottage. There was no sound other than the crackling fire.

Not until he heard Azura’s shriek.

“Who let you out!” Not a question. A shrill demand.

Xev snarled at her. “Where are they?”

She gestured at the fire.

Pain slammed into him as he realized that she’d killed them both. Not that he hadn’t already guessed what their fate would be at her hands. But the confirmation tore him apart. “They were innocent!”

She laughed bitterly. “No one’s innocent. Grow up.”

Of course she thought that. She was rotten to the core of her immortal soul.

Furious and in bitter need of retribution, he blasted her before he could think better of it.

Azura gasped at the sensation of his blast that sent her rolling backward.

Sadly, not as far as he’d hoped. She caught herself, then rose slowly to her feet. Time stood still as she stood yards away from him and glared with a hatred he could feel all that way to his blackened soul.

“How dare you!” She returned his blast.

Xev used his powers to put a shield between them. It didn’t work. Her powers tore through his as if his didn’t exist at all. The blast felt as if a thousand knives slashed at his body. It, too, sent him careening.

He tried to use his powers to catch himself, but they weren’t there.

Just as he thought he’d never stop rolling and spinning, he was jerked in the opposite direction by another thunderous blast.

He finally stopped tumbling at the feet of Azura.

She moved to stand on his wings, right where they were attached to his back. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t even twitch his wings. She had him completely pinned. “You better remember, little bug, that I make my happiness from ripping the guts out of vermin like you. Just because I birthed you doesn’t mean I won’t rip these wings from your spine and laugh at your pain.”

Azura ground her foot against him until he cried out in agony. “Never, ever use your powers against me, or next time, it’ll be you that I burn into oblivion. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

With one fierce kick to his head, she left him there and vanished.

Xev sobbed at the agony in his soul. Pain for the friends he’d made who had died because of him. This was all his fault. It was so unfair. Their kindness hadn’t deserved this level of cruelty.

They should have been cherished for eternity.

And he wept for the fact that he knew Azura would never allow him any form of happiness. She was too cruel for that. No matter how little he experienced, she loved to ruin it. Took a sick pleasure denying him everything.

Even a friend.

“Why didn’t you just kill me?” he breathed. “Why am I here?”

He didn’t want this life. Didn’t want to breathe another breath. He was so tired of it all, and he was just a kid. How much worse would it be when he was grown?

How was this his fate?

“I’m so sorry, Chani!” She’d been happy. She and her mother had shared a wonderful life with a love he’d never know.

And they were dead because he’d returned her home.

It was all his fault. He was a monster. Worse than the demons his mother enslaved. They had no choice. They looked like the monsters they were.

Him…

He’d made himself look human, and he had killed a girl he just wanted to be friends with. He should never have talked to her. Never gone home with them. How could he not know better?

I’ll never make friends again. It was too dangerous. He refused to be responsible for another death. While Azura might relish her cruelty, he did not.

Whatever he did, he’d stay out of sight. As far away from Azura and Noir as possible.

It was the only way he’d ever survive.