Who I Was Before...

The Prologue and Ch. 1

 

The Likoki Saga

Ancient Reign Of Angels - L.K.Balog

 

“ I hath traveled a dark and forsaken path, one that lead me through the heart of a dead forest. Years I wondered aimlessly on paths never made, and all the while the hovering darkness weighed heavier and heavier upon me. That is until finally the battle I was fighting with the dark ended…the dark won.

               Ever the sorrow, pain, evil and death tormented and corrupted my soul to the bounds of oblivion! The madness, the carnage, the…blood so sweet and sinister; I had a new hunger, a new passion, and it was the blood. The taste, the smell, the color, o’ what creature had I become? A lone demon of the night, hunting, ever hunting for blood and death, how the forest changed me. The sound of my quarry’s despairing screams ringing through my soul. The smell of their fear, intoxicating and pungent and delicious as a dozen roses. That horrid forest was my home, my playground.

               After many a moon had passed, alas less people ventured into my forest. Thus I was forced to leave. A small village not far to the north was destined to be my new home. There, for the first time, I loved. These people, they opened their hearts to me. Knowing that, I could not stay! I could not harm those I loved. So with this newfound warmth with in me, I decided to repent for my past deeds. Humanity had given me what my own family did not. They had shone me mercy. However, One does not change so easily. Just because I left the forest behind me, does not make it disappear.

               I wandered many more years in solitude, isolated and balancing between the worlds of shadow and light. That was until one fateful day I happened upon Souakon, the demon hunter. I, neither demon nor human, feared him naught. Seeing this and sensing my power he realized that I could be the greatest demon slayer of all time.

               Thus I, Laomae the Rouge Shadow became…

                                           The Likoki.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunoti The Sun Demon

Chapter I

 

 

               She was staying in an old, empty, building with Souakon; here he was teaching her the finer points about demon hunting. “Laomae, Sunoti is a dangerous demon. He has already claimed over three villages! That is over one thousand people. He has escaped from the Holy Fortress, you know.” Souakon said in his usual voice, which quaked from age.

“ Well, I suppose I should remember that while I tear out his heart and stuff it down his throat.” Laomae said with a sinister grin.

“ Laomae, I am serious! Many do not think me wise for hiring you, the mysterious creature from the Wood, as assassin and taking you as a pupil.”

“Well, perhaps you weren’t.”

“ Laomae,” Souakon stood slowly and leaned against the sullied wall of the deteriorating cabin. The moon was rising in the east, clear and serene. At length he spoke, “ I am old.” He sighed, “ I will not live forever, as you will. I am only human. Mortality is my master. I need to know that I have decided right. I need to know that I have not gained the wisdom of my long years in vain. I need to know… that I can trust you. Please, take care of Sunoti. Prove them wrong, prove your worth and loyalty so an old man may die in peace.”

“ I have to prove nothing, old man.” Her eyes, cast downward, held a defiant gleam.

“ Oh, but I’m afraid you do. You have much to prove.” Souakon sat down and laid a frail hand upon Laomae’s white shoulder. She brushed it away.

“ I have what it takes and then some!” she quickly stood up and her gaze met Souakon’s. His eyes were so tired, so forlorn; they were those of a man who has seen too much sorrow and pain in his life. A sense of remorse filled her soul. “ I… I will do as you ask, sir.” She whispered in an uncharacteristically timid tone and bowed her head.

“ Thank you Laomae.” He said with a sigh of relief. He still did not trust her completely, though. After all, at four hundred and ninety three-years-old she had a rather disturbing reputation among the humans as a demon herself. The New Year, year 1573 here on Earth, will be in exactly one week. Then Sunoti will be at his strongest. Laomae has only seven days. Souakon thought to himself as he watched the strange woman prepare her self for bed. She usually slept during the day, but Souakon insisted she become more comfortable with the sun. After all, a warrior must know one’s enemy.

               It was a calm and foggy morning. The sun just began stretching out his amber rays over the gray, mournful mountains. They were weathered and worn; their peaks wreathed in an ominous mist that never dispersed. They seemed tired and forlorn; their majesty devitalized by the harsh sands of time. At their feet a vast valley lay in shadowed twilight; here Laomae and Souakon made their home. The land about was silent, no bird sang and no winds blew. Laomae breathed deeply and looked around. It was the first time she had ever seen the sun rise.

“ I see you are up. Good, good. Are you ready for your first official case?” Souakon handed her a cup of herbal tea.

“ As ready as I have to be.” She took a slow sip of the warm nectar. “ I already told you, I have nothing to prove. This case will be no challenge. I am only doing this as a favor to you.”

“ Of course, of course. But still, it does not hurt to be prepared now does it? After all, you have hardly walked in the sun’s warm light…how will you defeat it?”

“ I am not fighting the sun, Souakon, only its reflection. This demon is only a minion, one who is able to take command of fire and call it sunlight. I will not say this again, he will be no challenge.” Souakon sighed heavily.

“ Watch that ego, Laomae, it may be the end of you.” She glanced at him briefly then continued to sip her tea.

               As the sun began to rise higher above the ocean of gray and emerald before it, a blood-curdling scream came from the west. It came from the village of Cai. “ Laomae!” Souakon yelled. “ I know! I’m on it!” Laomae yelled back behind her. She was already half way down the long mountain pass that lead to Cai. “No you fool! Come back here!” Souakon yelled at her, “ How will you fight the demon if you have no armor! Come back! Come back!” She slowed to a stop and stood stupidly in the middle of the road. An innocent smile on her lips. She jogged lightly back.

“ Quickly, into the basement!”

“The basement?” she asked as Souakon forced her inside.

“ Yes, now be careful with the trip to Cai. Here, cover your fair limbs with this cloak. It will slow the effect of the Demon’s power.” He held up a long charred cloak.

“ Alright…but why? I can handle anything he throws at me.”

“ Because, Laomae, I said so! You think you are ready for anything, when you are ready for nothing! Now, once you engage in combat, you may remove it. But not before then! He will most likely choose a place that is dark and small, hidden from the sun. Remember that.”

“ Why do you trust me? How do you know I wont join him and dominate this pathetic planet?” Laomae’s question caught Souakon off guard. He looked deeply into her eyes, his expression pensive and doleful.

“ I do not.” He said. Laomae remained silent.

“ You are our only hope. I see in you the truth and virtue of angels, even if you are still blind to it. Now go, we have tarried too long.”

               As she walked the long path to Cai, she could feel the sun growing in strength. Her skin began to burn; she wrapped the cloak tighter about her and closed her eyes. She envisioned Souakon as what he once was, before she knew him. She had seen a portrait of him from long ago, hung upon the wall in the diminutive dinning room, when he was young and strong. It was warped and tainted by time, but nonetheless still majestic. His hair in long shadowed waves draped his face, which was fair with two deep-set emerald eyes piercing from their slanted sockets; with in them the glint of ancient honor and courage, the virtues of the old Samurai, glistened. About his shoulders was hung a kimono of the Imperial colors; a long katana was at his waist. Makoto Adrian Tomonobu is his real name. He was born of a Japanese samurai, Toshio, and an Irish painter, Sierra. She had come to Japan to pursue her studies of art. After his father’s death, Makoto took the title of Samurai and carried on his family’s tradition. He decided to become a demon assassin after watching demons kill his mother. Thus he earned his name Souakon, Mist Phantom, in the demon underworld.

               Suddenly a dreadful smell awakened Laomae from her reverie. She found herself in the middle of Cai; it was ominously silent and there were no villagers or animals. At least no live ones. All around her burning carcasses lay where they had unexpectedly met with their demise. The rancid stench impaired her breathing and the debris of bodies and collapsed houses hindered her passage. She walked daintily, for fear of disturbing the dead or stepping in some awful mess of burning debris. As she stood awe struck, a weak cry came from with in a near-by cellar. She walked cautiously to the doors and lifted them with careful hands. With her green eyes glinting in the pitch shadow she called out, “Hello?” yet no one answered. The stairs creaked and moaned under her feet as she descended, and the repugnant reek of rot and evil wafted up from the bowels of the dungeon-like cellar. When she reached the bottom, a single arrow of the finest gold pierced the stone at her feet. A long, sardonic laugh cascaded through the room. It echoed against the dirt made walls and ran in a torrent of sullied wind about her.

“ Sunoti.” She whispered.

“ Ay, ‘tis. And by what name art called thou?” a deep and menacing voice whispered from the shadows.

“ My name is Laomae. Mine is a name that thou shall remember well, as thee shall lament the hour of our meeting.”

“ Dost thou challenge me?” the voice roared like thunder and sent the room quaking.

“ I dost.” Laomae hung her head and prepared her self for battle. 

               In a burst of hot light the demon, Sunoti, appeared from the thick shadows that engulfed the room. His eyes were two crimson flames burning with the hot intensity of a thousand suns. His hair, a long flowing wave of twilight fire, draped his shoulders and veiled his charred face.  

“ Laomae, ay. I hath heard much of thee, Mistress of the Wood. Thou hath slain many a foe; however, thou shall not slay me!”

“ Sunoti, thy power wanes. For it grows near night. Thou art a tainted sun doomed to dawn no more.”

“ Nay, mine is a dawn that shall never set! Thou witch of night! Thine life enow turns to legend!”

               With a great gust of foul wind Sunoti rose. The small, dank cellar was inundated with his putrid rays. Laomae shield her eyes against him, but still they burned. She could feel his immense heat from with in her, slowly burning her from the inside. Moaning in pain, she fell to the ground. “ Weak woman! Filthy wench! Thou art the dreg of humanity, thou mutt of a dog! Half breed!” Sunoti bellowed at her as she writhed in pain. Her body spasmodically jerked and twitched as she convulsed horrifically. At his maligning words, a fire burned with in her eyes. She summoned all her remaining strength and stood. Their eyes met. “ Thou art the dog thou beast! Heartless demon! Thou art the dreg who wallows in the shadow of thy cryptic master! Ever wallowing in his sordid wake! I damn thee back to hell!”

               A dark wind rushed into the room. Upon it flew her condemning words that pierced Sunoti as if each one was a dagger. Her raven hair, in mad streams, flew as white fire that engulfed her. Blood gushed forth from her arm as a sword began to tear out of her wrist, first the black blade, then the hilt. In puddles about her feet the thick fluids collected and burned off the blade in a red steam. In a flash she leaped into the air and came down on him like a hawk down on its prey. With a mighty kick between his eyes she fell her foe. Sunoti landed limply with a spiriting wound upon his head. Slowly, she raised the sword over him and pinned his body to the ground. He screamed in agony as the Holy weapon seared his flesh. Enjoying his suffering, Laomae grinned as she tore through is flesh and broke off his ribs, one by one.

“ Thou hath me!” he screamed in despair,” Why make me suffer so! Art thou not benevolent?”

“ No. I am not. For why dost thou hath thy victims suffer so? Those who show no mercy, receive none.” Sunoti’s screams tore though the eerie silence that shrouded the village and rang though the mountainside. Far away Souakon looked up from his tea as he heard the ghastly creature’s cries. “ Well,” he said to himself, “ seems her first case went rather well.”

               The demon sun had dispersed and its last remaining rays of twilight began to set far off in the west. Laomae walked calmly under the safe, familiar moon as its silver beams cooled her wounds. She limped up the old dirt path to where Souakon awaited her.

“ Laomae!” he called as he hobbled down to greet her,

 “ I heard that monster’s screams from all the way up here! Grand job you did!” he put his arm around her.

“ Souakon,” Laomae lamely whispered.

“ Yes?”

“ Make me some tea. I need to sleep.” With that she collapsed into his old arms and fell into a deep and much needed slumber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

This story is very old and needs much editing. It is finished, but not written out on my computer so it may be a very long time before I get more chapters to put on. Any and all critques are welcome, I am a very poor speller if you could not already tell, so any critques on grammar or spelling in any of my works are most welcomed and NEEDED! Thank you for taking the time to read, I hope that you were entertained in some way.

Reviews

[John]

That was interesting. Spelling wasnt that bad, although at times it seemed like you left out words. The story reminds me of Inuyasha... You should write more of it on here!