Lyonesse, Prologue
#1 of Lyonesse
_ Crunch, crunch, crunch._
"Before we start with the official business, does anyone have anything unofficial to bring to my attention?" Said a wizened old demon, leathery flesh wrinkled and patterned with scars. His one crimson eye scanned out across the high school auditorium, to the two-score demons scattered out amongst the rows. I sat in the back, in a dark corner.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
"Only one thing, Elder." Said a succubus, her voice as smooth and sweet as honey. She stood, her long raven hair ending in sharp spikes of steel. "We spoke before the meeting of a possible lessening of the restrictions on my feeding. What is your ruling?"
"In light of recent events, you shall adhere to your normal feeding schedule and allotment." Said the elder, from his chair on the stage. The succubus looked absolutely infuriated for a moment, then sat down without a further word.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
"Recent events?" Asked one of the trio of imps dangling from the ceiling. One of them had a bag of chips, chewing on them nosily. "Whatcha talkin' about?"
"A trio of humans have begun to take an interest in us."
"Just kill them, then." Said one of the musclebound oni in the middle of the auditorium.
"I'm afraid that is impossible at the moment. No, I called this meeting to choose who shall be bound to them, as per their request." There was a general outcry of fury, my own voice included.
"Bound?!" I cried, standing swiftly. My black talons slid along the concrete floor with a loud squeal, but left no mark. "Bullshit!"
"Arkhmenius!" Hissed the elder, leveling a withered finger at me. "Cease your outburst at once, for it is you who are selected for their service."
"Since when!" I shot back, barely restraining the flare of amber energy from my normally shapeless form. I had congealed into a raptoresque anthro, for just such an occasion. Best to blend in with the locals, you see.
"Since now."
"Oh ho, I see the way it goes." Said the oni. "Whoever yells the loudest gets assigned to one of these brats?"
"No. It is to me to decide who gets bound." The elder informed.
"Then who else gets sent off to the humans?" The succubus hissed.
"First Arkhmenius," The elder gestured, and I fell to my knees. Illness ran through me, followed by a severe lightheadedness. The too-familiar sensation of a collar forming around my throat built as the elder listed off names, demons belonging to those names collapsing. The elder, seeing this, strode along the aisles with a sharp dagger in his hand, etching the names of the humans into our flesh. I had several of these scars along my back, all faded into unreadability due to the death of the humans.
Not by my hands, I swear! Really!
I took the form of an oni, trying to force my way out of the collar around my neck. As I pried and pulled and grunted and strained fruitlessly, the elder strode up to me.
"Ah, Arkhmenius." He circled around behind me, a surprisingly strong foot pinning me to the floor. "You're a fun case. Decided to be an oni?"
"Damnit, no, let me up and I'll-"
"Okay, oni it is." He kneeled, scratching the dagger along one of my sets of scars.
"Wait, no, what the fuck?!"
"Oh, you'll see..." As he finished the last stroke, my senses suddenly failed. I felt myself drifting on an endless ocean, blind, deaf, and dumb.
Until I woke again.