July 10, 8649 BC
Simi sat at a corner table in a market, waiting for more beef to come while akri was off, speaking to a friend. It felt like it’d been forever since the waiting lady had tolds her she’d be back, and her stomach was rumbling something fierce.
She was just about to go tell akri she wanted to find more food, or eat a human, when she saw a warrior entering the marketplace near her.
At first glance, he looked like a young, handsome teenager. But he wasn’t what he seemed.
No …
He was a demon god, yet not one like her. No, he was something else entirely, and she had no idea what. And he made all the human people around them quake in terror at his lethal approach. They seemed to know him.
She could tell he liked their fear. Something in his soul ate it up the same way she guzzled sweet cakes.
Until he neared her.
“Rawr!” he sneered at her, trying to put a scare in the Simi’s heart.
She laughed. Like he was really scary? The demon-boy had no idea of the scary things she’d seen.
Or the scarier ones she’d eaten.
And her humor didn’t please the warrior at all. “You dare laugh at me?”
She cocked her head at his words as she tried to understand his anger over something so silly. “Well, what were you trying to do?”
“Scare you, little girl.”
The Simi was not a little girl. Even though she was thousands of years old, Simi knew she appeared to others around the age of six or seven. It was a Charonte thing. Since they lived for so long, they aged very, very slowly.
The thought of him thinking she was a little girl made her snicker again.
And that, too, made his hazel blue-green eyes flare with fury. He took a step toward her only to have akri appear between them. The tip of akri’s staff glowed so that his sun symbol was apparent to all.
The warrior drew up short. Respect replaced the meanness in his eyes as he recognized her akri. “Acheron.”
“Prince Leucious,” akri said in the same sharp tone the warrior had used.
Leucious’s gaze went past akri’s shoulder to where Simi continued to sit. “She’s with you?”
“Always and is very dear to me.”
That took all the anger from his eyes. “Then forgive me. I can see why she laughed at my inept stupidity at trying to intimidate her when she’s used to you.”
Simi stood up then and moved closer to the demon warrior. “Why you want to scare a little girl?”
Akri answered for him. “He can’t help it, Simi. His people are known for their cruelty.”
Another warrior walked up behind Leucious. “I believe Acheron just accused you of having no home training, my prince.”
Simi didn’t like the newcomer. His armor was made from the skeletons of humans, and it smelled as awful as the creature’s body odor.
Akri smirked at him. “Don’t try and cause a fight between us, Mot. Your lord knows better.”
Leucious inclined his head to akri before he turned a fierce, angry sneer to the smelly one and shoved him away. “Learn your place, Grim. You’re a fallen god. I know you’re not my equal in battle, even though we’re allies.” With those words spoken, he headed off to scare the serving lady who was bringing Simi her food.
Unlike Simi, the serving lady actually screamed.
Mot continued to glare at akri. “I rode with your brother, long ago.”
