Demon Eyes

Chapter 18


I do not believe I have ever cried so hard as I did that night. I felt horribly wretched for leaving her, for being able to do nothing to save her. None of Hemanias's words would soothe me, and for days I felt too weak to even leave my room. My mother's mad words echoed in my head, always speaking the word “demon.” In the end, that was what my mother had taken me for, what she believed I was. I had died in her mind from the very moment I sprouted wings.

“Leonna, you mustn't take her words so hard,” Hemanias would say. “She was not in a sane state of mind. She has always loved you.”

But his words fell unheeded. My mother had loved the girl without fire, the girl whom she deemed as lovely. Once my true nature was realized, I became a true demon, the demon that had stolen the away the girl she had loved. My only relief came in doing busy work, so I kept myself devoted to Hemanias's training. I tended after my garden and went hunting, admiring the sun as it rose and set over the valley. Sometimes I would even come across the villagers wandering about the forest, and I would hide myself and watch them engage in their activities. Some of them were men speaking business, others lovers who came to seek an undisturbed sanctuary. I listened to their words with an empty heart, wishing only that I had been born like them. I would have even settled for a cockroach, who scuttles about the earth knowing no pain and sorrow. They adapt well to the world around them, unaware of its sorrows and strife. It can crawl into a hole unseen and undisturbed, its insignificant life ending at the careless heel of a boot.

My life was never meant to be that simple.

Chapter 19


Life with Hemanias did indeed have some drawbacks. Most everything I learned I learned from him, but this knowledge came at a cost. As a shaman, Hemanias used strange magics to communicate with spirits. He would draw strange circles in the dust or chant ancient spells, all of which brought a strange presence around him. I do not know the finer points of spirit summoning, but watching Hemanias was frightening. Sometimes his eyes would roll back into his head, or he would go into a strange sort of trance, where he was no longer in tune with the world around him. I could feel a fluctuation of energy in the air when he did this, as if he were opening some sort of portal from which magic flowed. Even if I was not in the same room, I could feel it raising the hair at the back of my neck.

Hemanias claimed that spirits were everywhere; we just could not see them. We could feel them and their energy, which could cause strange sensations of hot and cold, and even affect the environment around us. I asked him if this was the power that fed the magic trees, but he said it was not so. There was a greater magic at work in the land itself, one that even he did not understand.

The advantages to being able to summon spirits are many. One can speak to them as they would a living person, but they can extend their abilities even beyond that. Hemanias could bring them into his body, combining his power with theirs. It could grant him impossible strength, even healing abilities. He said that there were also elemental spirits, which were part of the earth itself. This could grant control over the elements of the earth without the spirit summoner having any experience in magic at all. They could also serve to sharpen the senses and spy on enemies, all with just one command.

But there are also drawbacks. Serious drawbacks. Spirits do not always appreciate being forced to be used as one's power source. They can gain power over the spirit summoner's mind, driving them to insanity or possessing their bodies. The powers of a spirit can also drive a human body to exhaustion, sometimes killing them if they exert too much strength.

I cannot describe how strange it is to see a person with a spirit inside of them. They look exactly the same as before, their body no different in any way. Their voice is the same, their expressions are no different; almost nothing has changed. And yet everything has. One can see it in their eyes, the presence of something other than themselves. One can see it in the way they walk, which is not the same gait as before. Their presence has entirely changed, become something more than human. Sometimes I feared that Hemanias may never be the same person again.

Hemanias was by no means immune to the effects of spirit summoning. Whenever he used a spirit's power to heal an injured person, or drew from their strength in order to train me, he would become terribly weak. I begged him not to use such magic, but he refused. When he went into convulsions, I held him still as his limbs flailed in the air. When he came down with terrible fevers, I used herbs to calm him and put him to bed. He would often do a lot of murmuring when this happened, sometimes shouting strange things as his eyes glazed over. Sometimes he would argue with himself, and others he would try to attack me. He often moaned about how he could not tell what was real and what was not, or if he was doing things with his own will. He relied on me to calm and assure him, to bring him back into a sane state of mind. Such fits were always disturbing, but I stayed with him nonetheless. As an old man, he needed great care, though he always denied it.

“Leonna, I lived long before you came here, and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” He would mutter as I brought him a calming cup of herbal tea. When he saw my anxious glances, he sighed and rolled his eyes, knowing he could do nothing to calm my worries. Still, he accepted and appreciated my aid, and he eventually stopped grumbling when I insisted on giving him medicine or helping him walk to the village. It was clear he was used to being alone and independent, but he was slowly coming to realize that he could not do all he had in his youth.

Chapter 20


There are many people that complain about their names. Many wish they had something more original or exciting, a name of great beauty or charm. They sometimes do not share the same nostalgia of their parents who picked out such a thing, but they live with it nonetheless. I am one of these people.

My problem with my name, however, has nothing to do with originality or beauty. One will find few people named Leonna, the feminine version of Leo, the lion in the sky. It is a good name, too, for what is more powerful and respectable than the lion?

Leo, the formation of royal stars in the sky has a story of his own. In ancient legends, he was the nemean lion killed by the Grecian hero, Hercules. According to the story, the great beast descended from the moon in the form of a flaming meteor. He was a powerful creature of destruction, who killed all of the villagers he came across. His skin, impenetrable to all kinds of rock and metal, protected him from the wrath of man, until of course, Hercules came. Unable to pierce the beast with his sword, the great hero strangled Leo to death, and the lion ascended into the heavens to commemorate the great battle.

Leo’s position in the sky closely relates him to the flaming sun. The shining orb passes through it on its journey through the sky, and at night, the bright stars dominate the darkness. It is also said that Leo chases Taurus across the vast plain of the sky, attempting to hunt down the very symbol of fertility. Even with this desire for carnage, Leo is known to herald the spring and warm seasons, bringing with him the glory and destruction of the sun.


Is it any wonder I was named after him?


And that is why I do not like my name, Leonna Fallenstar. It almost sounds graceful, enchanting. It is a symbol of my past, of my powers as a demon. I was named this because that was how the villagers, even my parents, saw me. A powerful beast that had fallen from the sky. A star that had burned their forest to the ground. Yes, my name was uttered with respect, with fear. Those who heard it were reminded of their lost ones, of their burning homes, and the rich land that had granted them their lives back. This was not the name of a person; it was the name of an icon.

Chapter 21


I asked him many times, but Hemanias would never tell me why he had chosen to take me in, why he had decided to share so much of his hard earned wisdom with me. Every time I inquired, Hemanias would merely laugh and shake his head. He was the only person in my world that accepted me for what I was, and in return, I gave him my complete trust. I spent many good years learning from Hemanias, taking in everything he had to say. Through him I began to bloom, to finally see a purpose in life. I began to care about what I looked like, the kinds of things I said, if I was doing all of the right things. I was finally starting to become a whole person, but unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last.

One day while I was training alone in the forest, I began to sense an ominous presence. A strange silence clung to the forest, wrapping itself around the dark trees and green ferns. Despite the disturbing quiet, I continued to work, until Hemanias came running to me. He was in a panic, his thin, white hair sprawled in all directions on his head.

Hemanias stopped in front of me, breathing hard. "Leonna, what are you doing here? The village needs you!"

Immediately, memories from my life in the village came back. I remembered how my parents had shunned me like everyone else, how I had been treated like an outcast. I did not want to return, I did not even know if I would be accepted in to the village, but something in Hemanias' voice moved me into action. I had never seen him so afraid, and I knew that cruel or not, he loved the people of the village. Despite the pain in my heart, I knew I had to protect them. Without a word, I ran from Hemanias to enter the village I had fled from fourteen years ago.

I was met with a hideous sight. The wooden houses of the villagers had been carelessly torn apart, as if some giant creature had trampled through them. There were exanguinated corpses of men, women and children, the horror of their deaths still twisted on their faces. In the distance, I could hear people screaming and the blood curdling screeches of a monster. With no hesitation, knowing that lives were at stake, I ran to the source of the noise.

As the screams became louder, I grew more impatient. I forced my wings to come out, using all of the control I had learned from Hemanias. It took no time at all to fly to the screams, and I found myself hovering above a small grove. Beneath me was a large group of the villagers, many of them holding those that had been wounded. Whoever could still stand on two feet was pointing makeshift weapons at the monsters that encircled them--giant spiders.

There were at least thirteen spiders surrounding the villagers, each standing more than ten feet tall. Their fangs glistened with their poison saliva, and their eyes, dozens of blood red orbs, were fixated on their victims. As I watched the villager's distraught faces, the deepest rage I had ever known coursed into my blood. These were innocent people, people who despite their fear of me had tolerated me, and now these creatures were going to kill them, giving no thought to the lives lost.

With a cry of rage, I threw out all of my fury at once, sending out a stream of white hot liquid flame into the nearest spider. It did not just leap into flames, it began to melt. The villagers screamed at the sight, and the other spiders scattered back into the forest. Some nearby trees even caught on fire, their flames reaching like pointed claws up into the sky. To my horror, I saw that my attack had severely burned many of the people I had tried to save, and immediately, I extinguished the flame, willing it to stop.

What followed was an eerie silence. I fell to the ground, exhausted by the huge amount of energy I had consumed. There was no doubt as to who had caused such a flame, but no one came to attack me. Instead, I heard many cry out in pain and agony, torn by the loss of their loved ones or injured by a serious wound. I could only stare at them, wracked with guilt that I had been a cause for that pain. I had allowed my emotion to hurt each and every one of them, even when I was trying to save them! I truly was a monster...

It was not long before Hemanias came running to the scene. Immediately, he began using his magic to heal wounds and calm everyone else. I wished so badly that I could help my village the way he could, but I knew that was impossible. The pain of the past hit me like a wave, echoing in my head, demon eyes, demon eyes, demon eyes! You have the eyes of a demon!

Hemanias soon found me curled up in a ball on the ground. He softly touched my shoulder, already understanding the guilt filling every space inside of me. "Leonna, you saved them. Do not do th—"

I turned away from him, staring at the blackened skin of the survivors. "Saved? Saving others...is...is what good people do! Look at them...just look...those wounds...only a...a monster could do that."

"Leonna, listen to me, do not go back—"

A shout rose out of the large crowd of people, full of blatant hatred. "Hemanias! Why are you coddling that demon!"

Hemanias half turned, still holding my arm. "Fool! Are you so blind that you cannot see your rescuer?"

Another voice rang out, a shrill woman's. "We're lucky we weren't burned to the ground! She probably missed!"

"Now listen, all of you! It was me that asked her to save you! You should have seen how she ran to you, even after all that has happened!"

"She's blinded you, Hemanias!"

"Get her out! Get her out or you'll both go!"

"If you are so closed minded then perhaps it is time I—"

"Do not." I grasped Hemanias' bony hand, getting his full attention. "They need you, Hemanias...I...I was not meant to...to be here..." So many emotions were pulsing through me, only adding to my fatigue.

Hemanias gazed back at me sadly, unwilling to let me say the words he knew I would. "Leonna, everyone loses control at times. Do not blame this on-"

"I do not," I whispered, smiling as best as I could. It was a lie, but I was ready to do anything to protect the old man that had been so kind to me. "They need you...but I...I can take care...of myself...I need to find...find on my own what this life...what this life means...I will go..."

"Leonna..." Hemanias looked at me for a moment, then took his hand from my shoulder. "I cannot stop you, can I?"

I smiled. "No, you cannot."

And so it was that I left Bren in search of my own kind, to see if I could truly find where I belonged.

OoC: The following is an excerpt from Leonna's book, which I have included here to further explain the history of Bren. It is not actually part of the story-- more like an index to help clarify certain aspects of it.

BiC:

The History of Bren
As written by Leonna Fallenstar

Bren has long been known for its singular trade of magic trees. Within the very depths of Heimlick Forest, it quietly sits, disturbed only by the annual Hyrulian traders that travel through it every year. Little is known of its ancient roots, save for the few village elders who still tell its stories. What I have discovered throughout my time as a resident of Bren, I have written here.

Ancient Roots

While there is no exact date as to when Bren was first settled, artifacts and ruins indicate that human inhabitants lived within the forest as early as 500HC. These forest dwellers were nomads who hunted and foraged within the forest, which was at that time much more temperate. Hieroglyphs written on the gray stone within the southeastern area of Kyronos Peak also show that these nomads worshipped sacred spirits. Also written are many depictions of hunting and gathering, which appear to be the main life of these early nomads.

Sometime around 700HC, geological evidence indicates that a volcanic eruption occurred. Kyronos Peak, a volcano that is currently dormant, erupted, causing great destruction among the nomads. Nearly three fourths of the vast forest (which spans just over 24 leagues) was destroyed. This event was not recorded by the nomads, but the elves that settled the recently ruined area. Living in what little forest was left, they aided the nomads with magically grown food, helping to restore the forest which was claimed to grow back with astonishing speed. It was also recorded that strange lights appeared in the sky on the night that volcano erupted.

By 900HC, the nomads had developed a culture greatly influenced by the elves. While these humans lived separately from the elves, they took on much of their culture, and became more agricultural. Much of their farming techniques remain the same today as they were back then, which consists of crop rotation, and a great variety of crops unfamiliar to Hyrule. As these nomads began to settle in the forest, the elves fondly called their village Bren, meaning "little drop of water."

It was not until 950HC when magic trees were first discovered. It was the elves who found and researched the qualities of these strange plants, which appeared to be able to absorb magical energy. These trees, however, grew only in one particular grove, right at the foot of Kyronos Peak. This discovery eventually attracted prospectors from Hyrule who had heard of them from other travelers, and the outside world's interest in Bren finally began attracting business.

The Ancient War of Hyrule soon created a heavy demand for the magic wood, which was being effectively used for wands and charms. This put Bren into a large industrial drive, forcing them to lumber like never before. They adopted Hyrulian technology and dress as they began to closely associate with them, taking to the woods to gain money enough to trade for luxurious goods.

This sudden destruction of the forest drove the elves away, who left the forest when both the villagers and Hyrulians refused to stop. By 958HC, almost all traces of them were gone. Today, only the ruins of their ancient city remain.

When the Ancient War ended around 1000HC, the demand for magic wood immediately slowed. Business began to wane, and the villagers once again turned to the land for sustenance. Trade came to a crawl, and by 1300HC, only Hyrulian traders ever came through, being the only ones willing to brave the distance between Bren and Hyrule. Their current trade route extends far out of Hyrule and into other realms, giving them only one stop every year at the village of Bren.

Since that time, the villagers of Bren have lived peacefully within Heimlick Forest. Outside of the forest, magic wood is almost unheard of, a chunk the size of a palm costing over 2,000 rupees. The largest piece of wood known to have been bought was a board six inches thick and six feet tall. This was purchased by the late Hyrulian King Hector IV for 40,000 rupees. It was made into a statue of the Goddess Nayru, and charmed as a protective ward. Today, it is still rumored to stand within Hyrule Castle, unmarred by time, though over 1,000 years have passed since its formation.

Culture

The people of Bren have long been influenced by Hyrule. Their language and dress is much the same, though there are very distinct differences. While they do in fact speak Hylian, they are not Hylians themselves, and as contact over the years has languished, they have developed much of their own customs.

Clothing:
For one thing, the people of Bren tend to wear more "loose" styles of clothing when compared to Hylian culture. The women wear shorter sleeves and skirts than is typical to Hyrulian women, also wearing their hair loose or tied in braids. Their duties lie in the home, caring for the farm while the men are away. They weave their own cloth, produce and cook much of their own food, and are responsible for bottling and storing the fruits of their labor.

The men of Bren spend a good portion of their time plowing the fields and cutting the magic trees. The grove is far enough away that their gathering often takes days, even weeks before they return to stockpile the wood. They also wear home woven garments, often consisting of simple trousers and long sleeved shirts.

Unique Holidays:
Bren is also notorious for their Spring Festival. It is claimed to be a remembrance of the elves who preserved their people in ancient times, but it has become a more popular dancing celebration, where the young men and women often pair up together. The Spring celebration is to Bren an arrival of new life and opportunities, where a great feast is held and people take more time to acquaint themselves with each other.

More reserved than the Spring Festival, Bren also has a Harvest Feast. The grandest of all Bren holidays, it is a celebration of hard work and dedication, in which a feast is held in honor of all of those who gave their best in preparation for the season. It is always held the night after the departure of the travelers, when all goods are at their highest yield. This celebration is also meant to welcome the oncoming seasons of frost and chill, for the low yield season has been prepared for with care.

Food:
Bren is perhaps best known for its flavorful salmon dishes. The village lies almost adjacent to Plodan River, a wide stream of water that spans many leagues from Kyronos Peak and into the Great Lake, which eventually connects to the sea. This causes a steady flow of salmon between the ocean and Pristine Lake, which is their breeding ground. As a result, fish are a plentiful , and the large variety of herbs grown in Bren make for many flavored variations of salmon.

Along with fish, Bren is also plentiful in vension, mutton, beef, and cuckoo, which is either from domesticated animals whose origin traces back to Hyrule, or the wild life of Heimlick Forest. While hunting is secondary to fishing and domesticated meat, it is still a favorable dish and is enjoyed food in Bren. Like the other meats, it is also salted, smoked and preserved with other dried plants for storage.

Agriculture, however, plays a more dominant role in Brenian diet. Meat is sparsely eaten in the warm seasons when fruit, milk, cheese, and vegetables are more plentiful. The most common plants are corn, squash, peaches, apples, beans, potatoes, and cherries. Where there are a number of many other plants, these named few are those most exported from Bren. Imported goods are also highly varied, though salt, sugar, and lemons are among the most imported of goods.

Manufactured Goods:
Bren is entirely void of ores, and thus all metals are imported. There are no known smiths in Bren, though there are plenty of skilled carpenters. While these carpenters are skilled in crafting common furniture and tools, they do not refine any of the magic wood that is cut. On rare occasions, pieces of magic wood are cut into decorative brooches, but there are no magical charms or objects of any kind that are formed. Such processing only occurs within Hyrule.

Despite the high value of magic wood outside of Bren, the annual traders pay very little for it. As the village's only main customers, they trade the wood for meager amounts of other desired goods, a singular silk ribbon amounting to a good fifty pounds or so of wood. Because of this, the villagers have little resources with which to purchase luxurious items, and their homes themselves consist of dugouts with wooden framing. In wintertime, even the animals are known to sleep in the same dugout as their owners.

Beliefs:
As a people highly influenced by outside cultures, Brenians have lost their tribal beliefs, which were centered around a “great mother earth spirit.” While this suggests belief in a singular deity, it actually extends out into other great spirits and mythical creatures, but all of this has been superseded by the traditional Hyrulian belief in the three great Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore.

Coupled with this Hylian belief, there is also a great reverence from nature and magic. As a people whose lives revolve around the earth itself, it is considered a taboo to mar nature in cruel and unusual ways, which consist of poaching, mindless destruction of plants, and misuse of magic. So strong is the enigma against bad magic (which has been rumored to cause the two great fires which have decimated the forest), that any magic at all is banned from being used within the village. Only one, small hermit on the fringes of the village has ever been known to use it acceptably.

The villagers of Bren are also a very conservative people. They dress loosely only to adapt to the heat of the temperate forest, and behavior of the young is watched with care. Upbringing highly stresses independent work and values, and lazy, gluttonous behavior is frowned deeply upon. It is the belief of every village that all must work hard together in order to gather a harvest that will sustain the village.

Geography

Bren exists within a semi-temperate forest, which varies with coniferous and deciduous portions as the forest extends out of Bren’s valley. This valley is within the very depths of the Kyronos Mountain Range, sitting at the foot of its tallest mountain, Kyronos Peak. This range extends to the Hyrulian Death Mountain, with the geological temperature lowering as one moves north towards Hyrule. Though temperate, it still experiences all four seasons, though winter and fall are particularly mild.

Along with the temperate forest, there is also diverse wildlife. White tailed deer, mountain lions, black bears, chipmunks, warblers, and gophers are just a few of the variety of creatures that life within the confines of Heimlick Forest. Among these, however, there is a truly extraordinary creature. There also lives the Giant Forest Spider within the forest, and though exceedingly rare, it is not odd to hear of a sighting within Bren. Aside from this creature, however, there are no exceptionally strange or mythical beasts that live within the forest.

Government

Since Bren functions as its own entity, it has its own independent governing system. The villagers group together in a tribe-like, or democratic way, in which the village men meet together to make plans and statutes to be followed by the rest of the villagers. While women do not actively participate in these meetings, their complaints and suggestions can be taken directly to the village leader, who is currently Bensai Glenn.

The layout of the village is fairly simple, and while the villagers have been known to form their own small militia in times of danger, there is no leading force to govern the town.

This... this dam story... this dam, great, story has kept me up unitl 2:20am. You are a wonderful writer, very detailed and descriptive almost painfully so at times. Will you be adding more to the story or is this it?

To you I tip my hat.

Oh, thank you very much ^^ I didn't think anyone would be able to read this all the way through.

As a matter of fact, there is a sequel, but I've only got into about the first seven pages or so...

YEEEEES!!!