At least that was his last thought before the darkness took him.
* * *
Malphas came awakewith a sharp jerk. At first, he wasn’t sure what had happened. Not until he heard human voices.
“I saw a demon, I tell you. He fell not far from here.”
“Then we’ll gut him!”
How brave they were when going after a wounded animal. But just like a wounded animal, demons were much more dangerous in this state. A demon’s will to survive was far greater than any other species. Indeed, self-preservation was engraved in their DNA.
Never mind the demigod part of him. It would annihilate the world in order to survive.
Forcing himself to rise, Caleb grabbed his sword.I will not be defeated. Especially not by a group ofhumans. Petty, smelly, repugnant… he’d never understand why the gods had brought forth such an abomination.
Determined to put them in their graves, he left the quiet cave.
And walked into the middle of what had to be a hundred humans.
Crap.
Worse? He wore nothing on his body other than his orange skin. So much for arrogance. At the moment, he’d be thrilled to have a loincloth.
Thankfully, they were as stunned as he was. Which gave him enough time to rush toward them with a feral scream.
That caused them to wet their breeches as they scattered for the trees. If only they’d stay there. But he was no fool. He had stunned them, and they’d run.
All too soon, they’d come to their senses and realize that even as great a warrior as he was, he was no match for their numbers.
A blast of fire struck the tree beside him. Malphas gasped and looked to see a sorcerer in their mix.
Lovely.
Didn’t really change anything, other than his temper. Now, he wanted blood. But first, he needed to get away and find some clothes. As much as he wanted to destroy them, he was aware that he was naked, wounded, and that they seriously outnumbered him.
The mightiest bull can be brought down by a pack of wild dogs.
That was the only lesson his father had ever passed along to his sons. Other than to trust no one. Of course, he hadn’t needed his father to teach him the latter given that his mother had schooled him on it first… with the back of her hand.
Clutching his side, he made his way deeper into the woods. He heard the others calling out to each other, warning them of how dangerous he was.
They had no idea.
Malphas drew a ragged breath and winced as he tried to hide his wings. At first it only spread a wicked pain through his body. But just when he feared he’d pass out from the pain, they returned to his skin.
Trembling from the weight of agony, he moved as silently as possible through the underbrush. Gods, how it galled him to be running from primates.
I’m a Daeve! And a demigod.
He commanded legions.
Sadly, none of those legions were here. Nor did they really care that he was about to get his ass kicked. That was a bit of a problem. And given their loyalty, if they found him like this, they’d be just as likely to kill him as the humans.
Demons were treacherous that way.
Not that anyone could be trusted. He couldn’t repeat that litany enough. Everyone betrayed. Everyone lied. In the end, the only one anyone could rely on was themselves.
Except for today. Today, he was betraying himself. His body didn’t want to cooperate. It was ready to fall down, and let the humans take him. What difference would it really make? His body might be alive, but he’d died inside a long, long time ago.
