Eko ( " The sight of her dancing brings back the memories of... " )
It’s funny, the humans say, that you don’t realize how much you love something until it’s gone. My master, Asahir, is a demon, and a lover of humans. He’s had quite a few human companions, female and male of the species, over the years, and cared for them in his own way. No, he never meant to keep any of them, but they were his and that was the important part. They weren’t always the most beautiful of the species, either. Ellis, the daughter of a peasant farmer in the time of lords and fiefs, had been badly scarred in a childhood accident - but she was kind, and took care of every creature that came across her bath, whether it rewarded her generosity or wounded her fragile heart. She cared for many demons as if there were family, demons that had been born demons and demons that had been born angels and gods. Of the latter, she never tried to “save” them, as many people did. They were the way they were, and that was how it was. She treated them, everyone, as if they were their own species; special, unique, and all together worthwhile. That was how she treated my master, and that was how she treated me.
I will admit, I also loved Ellis, as I loved Danair, Maria, Charlotte, and many others. My master’s tastes in companions run to the fair hearted, the kind that will take a being into, not only their homes, but their hearts, even knowing that they will mostly likely be left behind. Danair, who was of a time many centuries prior to the tragic beauty Ellis, often joked about the bill she would send with my master and me when we left her to move on to better, and prettier, women. Danair, subsequently, left us first, as many mortal women did. Only demons and gods are fit to live as long as each other do - to love a human is to understand that you will watch them die, little by little, everyday. In the case of those mortals who love demons and gods, their deaths are usually at a young age, through not fault of their own.
It was over a mortal that a war was started. Her name was Acacia, and she was as sharp as the tree her mother named her for. She kept horses, bred, bought, and sold them, raced them on occasion, and loved them fiercely. She also loved fighting, and proving to the world that she was not just another woman to be pushed aside. That was how I met her. My master had goaded me into disguising myself as a mortal man and entering a hand to hand combat event that was being hosted as part of a local festival. If I won without resorting to the strength and power that came with being a demon of my own right, and instead won with the skills I had gained over my time on the earth, he would pick up the tab at every bar we stopped at for the next four millennia. As I have said, demons and gods are long-lived. It also takes a lot to get us far enough into the drink to be considered anywhere near tipsy, therefore, it can get quite expensive to keep up with the local bar scenes as the years go by. So, I agreed.
Meanwhile, Acacia had disguised herself, as well - as a scrawny, rage-filled barbarian youth, who carried a club and who’s only grasp of the native tongue seemed to be long strings of insults and curses. I knew the scent of a female even under the rotted animal skins and half-dried mud, and by the glint in her eye, she knew I was more than I let on as well. I do believe I let her win, or at least, that’s what I told my master. She went on to win the competition, and the barbarian youth disappeared with several months worth of grains and a casket or three of wine, which Acacia was more than happy to share with the two gentlemen that showed up on her doorstep later that night.
“I was wonderin’ when you would come around,” she’d said, grinning from ear to ear. “My mama told me never to associate with the folk of the darker lands, but I trust anyone that fights fair and square.”
Often times, that was the case, and the reason, we were so attracted to the young women. Gods and demons are promiscuous by nature, and the chance of producing offspring is high. Most times, however, the child or children show little or now affinity to their supernatural ancestry and the bloodline continues to peter out. There is only a small percentage of the population of mortal babies that have blood of a fae kind, and, from that, the chances of them mating with another being of preternatural skills and prowess is small. Often times, the bloodline has almost vanished before any kind of ability takes focus, and then it is only an enhancement of a trait that humanity already carries, such as telepathy or telekinesis. All humans are connected to one another, and to all objects - it is what separates them from the other species that populate the earth.
Acacia was the daughter of Apollo, the Greek god of Healing and Light. She had never met her father, but her mother often told the story of Acacia’s conception, to anyone that would pass by the house, or to random strangers in general. When the god never returned to claim his supposed mortal love, she had died of a broken heart, leaving Acacia to deal with what was now her farm, and a life unsheltered. This was often the case with children of the gods of ancient Greek - all of the worshipped divinity are a reflection of their worshippers, both god and demon kind. If you believe a god to be selfish and apathetic, that it was it will become. Apollo had been a clever, willful child who loved to play chess and play with animals - he had grown into a bastard who needed to be kicked in the face. Acacia was only one of his many children whom had been abandoned by both mother and father.
I will admit, I also loved Ellis, as I loved Danair, Maria, Charlotte, and many others. My master’s tastes in companions run to the fair hearted, the kind that will take a being into, not only their homes, but their hearts, even knowing that they will mostly likely be left behind. Danair, who was of a time many centuries prior to the tragic beauty Ellis, often joked about the bill she would send with my master and me when we left her to move on to better, and prettier, women. Danair, subsequently, left us first, as many mortal women did. Only demons and gods are fit to live as long as each other do - to love a human is to understand that you will watch them die, little by little, everyday. In the case of those mortals who love demons and gods, their deaths are usually at a young age, through not fault of their own.
It was over a mortal that a war was started. Her name was Acacia, and she was as sharp as the tree her mother named her for. She kept horses, bred, bought, and sold them, raced them on occasion, and loved them fiercely. She also loved fighting, and proving to the world that she was not just another woman to be pushed aside. That was how I met her. My master had goaded me into disguising myself as a mortal man and entering a hand to hand combat event that was being hosted as part of a local festival. If I won without resorting to the strength and power that came with being a demon of my own right, and instead won with the skills I had gained over my time on the earth, he would pick up the tab at every bar we stopped at for the next four millennia. As I have said, demons and gods are long-lived. It also takes a lot to get us far enough into the drink to be considered anywhere near tipsy, therefore, it can get quite expensive to keep up with the local bar scenes as the years go by. So, I agreed.
Meanwhile, Acacia had disguised herself, as well - as a scrawny, rage-filled barbarian youth, who carried a club and who’s only grasp of the native tongue seemed to be long strings of insults and curses. I knew the scent of a female even under the rotted animal skins and half-dried mud, and by the glint in her eye, she knew I was more than I let on as well. I do believe I let her win, or at least, that’s what I told my master. She went on to win the competition, and the barbarian youth disappeared with several months worth of grains and a casket or three of wine, which Acacia was more than happy to share with the two gentlemen that showed up on her doorstep later that night.
“I was wonderin’ when you would come around,” she’d said, grinning from ear to ear. “My mama told me never to associate with the folk of the darker lands, but I trust anyone that fights fair and square.”
Often times, that was the case, and the reason, we were so attracted to the young women. Gods and demons are promiscuous by nature, and the chance of producing offspring is high. Most times, however, the child or children show little or now affinity to their supernatural ancestry and the bloodline continues to peter out. There is only a small percentage of the population of mortal babies that have blood of a fae kind, and, from that, the chances of them mating with another being of preternatural skills and prowess is small. Often times, the bloodline has almost vanished before any kind of ability takes focus, and then it is only an enhancement of a trait that humanity already carries, such as telepathy or telekinesis. All humans are connected to one another, and to all objects - it is what separates them from the other species that populate the earth.
Acacia was the daughter of Apollo, the Greek god of Healing and Light. She had never met her father, but her mother often told the story of Acacia’s conception, to anyone that would pass by the house, or to random strangers in general. When the god never returned to claim his supposed mortal love, she had died of a broken heart, leaving Acacia to deal with what was now her farm, and a life unsheltered. This was often the case with children of the gods of ancient Greek - all of the worshipped divinity are a reflection of their worshippers, both god and demon kind. If you believe a god to be selfish and apathetic, that it was it will become. Apollo had been a clever, willful child who loved to play chess and play with animals - he had grown into a bastard who needed to be kicked in the face. Acacia was only one of his many children whom had been abandoned by both mother and father.