FicWad

Chapter one

Silence surrounded the dark, ominous forest. In the distance, a blood-curdling scream came out; scaring the slumbering animals, fearing it was some sort of vicious beast. It stopped then another arose and it was shrill, painful. People from the village five miles away could hear it and whispered sleepily amongst themselves.

Two shadowy figures lay in the forest. There was a woman, belly swollen from pregnancy ready to deliver laying on the ground and a man kneeling in front of her, nervous. The woman panted, moaned in pain as sweat beaded on her already soppy forehead. The man whispered words of encouragement, hoping that it would help the poor woman.

She nodded numbly as pain once again swept through her bones. She fell back onto the hard forest floor as she felt something fall out of her. A shrill cry broke through the silence once again. The man held the bloody baby in his hands, a happy smile spread across his face.

“It’s a girl, my love,” he set the baby in the female’s blanket that lay on her legs. Tears of joy welled up in her clear blue eyes. The baby cooed and closed its eyes, falling into a deep slumber. The family was happy until stomping footsteps broke through the silence.

The mother gasped and handed the baby back to its father. She whispered something, worried. He nodded and kissed her quickly before disappearing into the woods. He had to save his child even if it meant losing her. An agonizing scream tore through his heart and shattered it. The baby wailed as if it sensed that its mother was now dead.

The man fell to his knees, sobbing and screaming in sadness and despair. He knew that she was dead now and it was all because of him. He stopped when he heard the baby coo at him as if trying to make him feel better.

He glanced down at his daughter. Her eyes were a deep, intense blue, a little tuft of dark brown hair stuck out. He smiled sadly. She looked so much like her mother. He held her close and whispered that he would always protect her.

A twig snapped. He jumped and pulled his dagger out, ready to attack. A man in a black cloak and hood came out. He lowered his dagger. “My lord,” he greeted with a bow.

The dark figure removed his hood. “Ronin, what are doing out here? You know not to be in the human world at dawn,” he scolded him, voice deep and commanding.

Ronin bowed his head. “Forgive me, my lord. I had to do something and I lost track of time.”

The dark figured hummed in deep thought. “Very well. Is that her spawn?” He nodded to the squirming figure in the new father’s arms.

Ronin felt an unimaginable anger begin to build inside of him. He felt like he could kill his lord at that very second but he stopped himself. “It’s not just her “spawn”, Lord Akuma. She’s mine as well,” he softly said as he gazed down on his daughter.

Akuma sighed deeply. “Very well but you can’t expect her to survive long in the demon world. Come. We must go back before the sun is in the sky.” He chanted in their native language and the gates of hell opened.

Now to a mere human, the gates of hell would swallow you up before another thought would pass through your mind. Your soul will be lost in the sea of the dead and would forever be stuck there. It was a hideous sight; the gates were made of bones, covered in the blood of others.

Ronin watched he disappeared into the gate. He glanced back at the path he just ran and then followed his lord in.

Akuma called for all the demons to come forth. “My faithful warriors! We welcome a new demon into our midst!”

Ronin took his place near his master and held the baby for all to see. Cheers arose, welcoming the child into this hellish land that was forbidden to humans. The demons chattered to know the name of this new demon.

He looked at the baby in his arms, searching her face. A small, soft smile spread across his face. “Amaya,” he whispered.

Akuma’s brow furrowed in anger at how happy his most loyal servant was. He turned back to his people. “The child’s name is Amaya!”

The cheers grew louder but to Ronin, it was only him and his daughter. “My beautiful daughter, I swear on your mother’s soul, I will always protect you,” he swore softly as the newborn cooed at him.

Akuma raised his hands to silence the demons. “I have a new command! It is now forbidden to set foot in the human world. If I found out you have, you will die on the spot!”

Ronin snapped his head towards the demon next to him. He could not believe what he just heard. What kind of madness would lead a person to do that? He wished to speak up but couldn’t find the courage to do so.

That night as he rocked his daughter to sleep, he couldn’t stop thinking of what the devil announced. It was astounding how evil he had become, even more than when he first founded hell.
As he laid daughter down on the makeshift crib, he spoke softly, “Don’t worry, my young daughter. I’ll always protect you with my life.”

He looked up to the blood red sky, wishing that his love could be here with him to see how beautiful their child was. He knew what had happened to her. Her screams echo in his mind. She was dead. Now it was just his daughter and him against the world.

He was going to be punished for his treacherous behavior that much he knew for sure. He glanced down at his slumbering daughter. She couldn’t afford to lose the only person she had. If he died, his lord would surely kill her with no mercy.

Whatever the punishment, Ronin had to stay alive even if he was maimed and left for dead. His daughter was all that mattered now.

There was a knock on the door. Ronin’s heart pounded, knowing it was Akuma. He hid his daughter before he opened the door.

“Yes milord?”

“We need to talk about your actions. Come with me.”

The young demon swallowed hard and followed his lord to his chambers. Akuma pushed him into the backroom and listened as screams of pain filled the room.

An hour later, Akuma threw Ronin’s body into his room. “I hope you learned your lesson about turning against me.” He slammed the door, startling the sleeping infant awake.

Ronin’s eyes opened weakly at the sound of his daughter. He moved but an immense pain shot through his body. He didn’t have the strength to even move his fingers. His eyes looked down at his charred body. The flames of hell were a horrible thing to experience. He was lucky to be alive.

Amaya’s cries settled down to a soft whimper. With the only strength he had left, he raised his unburned hand and stroked her chubby cheek.

“My daughter,” he spoke hoarsely, his vocal cords giving up on him. “I love you.” Then all he saw was darkness.

Two hundred years had passed since Amaya was born. She was now a young woman, strong and determined to become the greatest demon that has served the devil. She stood almost six foot, muscular for a woman, skin pale as snow

Her father would scold her for training so hard but she would just laugh and tell him that he was jealous of her skills. He sighed deeply as he walked away, muttering about how crazy his daughter was.

Her stoic attitude gave her an edge in the battlefield. She’d kill without remorse or an ounce of sadness. Her speed surpassed the devil’s; her strength matched that of the mighty minatoars.

Now growing up without a mother, Amaya never had a woman to show her how to deal with her feelings or to tell her how the world worked. She only had her father and he wasn’t one for talking about that. She couldn’t express her feelings, for the devil said that it was weak so such feelings of love or kindness.

Amaya had just finished her training for the day. She was tired but she never showed it, not wanting to look weak in the devil’s eyes. She walked into her room, sweating glistening on her pale skin.
“
I worked too hard again today,” she spoke to no one in particular but herself. She strode to her bed, opening her kimono but stopped and narrowed her eyes when she saw she wasn’t alone.

“Training hard again, Amaya,” a feminine voice called out to her.

“What do you want, Kaiyo?”

“Oh nothing, dearest. Can’t I be in my betrothed’s room without permission?” Now when a demon gets to be a certain age, they arranged to be married to another demon, no matter of gender.

Amaya tried so hard not to roll her eyes. “No. Why are you really here?” Amaya asked, arms crossed and waiting.

“You’re no fun. I’m here because I want to spend the night with you. Is that so wrong?” The black-haired female gave an over-dramatic sigh as she ran her hands over Amaya’s muscles on her stomach.

Amaya scoffed in response. “It is wrong, if I don’t want you here. I like my silence and you being here, interrupts it.”

“You’re not very nice, lovely,” Kaiyo complained as she clung onto Amaya as if she would die if she let go.

“Remove yourself from me. I am in no mood to have you in my room. I like my privacy. Why are you really here?” Amaya asked sternly as she pulled the demon woman away from her.

Kaiyo looked away, eyes. “Never mind. I was foolish to think that I could spend time with you.” She left without another word, slamming the door behind her.

Amaya sighed and lay on her bed, head throbbing from that short time with her “betrothed”. She didn’t need nor ever wanted to marry but she was forced by the demon customs. They did not marry for love but for status and reproduction.

The door opened and shut again. “Daydreaming again, Amaya?” a deep male voice called out to her, walking into the demon’s home.

Amaya’s eyes narrowed playfully as she turned her head towards her doorway. “Ah you’re home at last. Where have you been all day?”

Ronin silently walked into the room. “The hot springs,” he answered simply as he opened a bottle of wine and poured it slowly in his cordial.

“You go there every day, father. Do you have a secret lover I don’t know about?” Amaya teased.

“Oh hush, my daughter. The springs simply sooth my aching muscles,” he said, sipping his wine as he made his way to his room.

Amaya followed him. “Father, come on. You haven’t been with anyone since my mother and that’s been over two hundred years. What are you so afraid of, Father?”

He had his back to his daughter as he opened his cotton shirt. “I’m not afraid of anything, Amaya. I only loved your mother and I will never love another,” he stated simply.

He heard his daughter sigh. “You’re impossible, Father. Demons do not believe in love,” she said stubbornly, walking over to him, “We believe only in battle and keeping our race alive.”

“That’s not what I believe in. I believe in love and being with someone because you want to be, not because you have to do it,” he paused and glanced at his daughter, “And I know you believe the same.”

She scoffed. “Only you think that. You and your romantic ideas about falling in love. Love does not exist, not in this world.” She closed his room door as she left him to his thoughts.

He touched his sensitive burnt skin and closed his eyes. He felt his thoughts take him back to two hundred years ago. He would have surely died from his injures if it was not for his old friend.


Ronin’s eyes opened weakly. Was he dead? He sure felt dead. He shifted his body and felt pain shoot up his spine. He cried out silently. His vocal cords hurt and his body felt on fire. He wasn’t dead if he could feel so much pain.

“You shouldn’t move, boy,” a voice said called out from the shadows.

Ronin turned his head to the voice. “Chiyo? Why are you here? If the Devil finds you, he will kill you on the spot.

The old woman scoffed as she waddled over. “I’ve lived a long and prosperous life. If I died now, I will have no regrets,” she spoke softly as she sat by his bed. “I see you’ve been in trouble again. This will be the last time I will heal you.”

The warrior said nothing as he closed his eyes. “What do you want me to say? That I’m a trouble-maker because I loved her? Maybe I am but I never cared. I loved her because I did and now I have a daughter for it. I have no regrets,” he said sternly.

“You were always the stubborn one, Ronin. Where is the infant? I need to give her a present.”

Ronin nodded the crib where his daughter slept with no worries in the world. He watched as Chiyo spoke to her softly. “Her name is Amaya. She looks so much like her mother.”

Chiyo didn’t answer him. She reached into the crib and tied something around the infant’s neck. “I should be on my way, boy. Take care of yourself and the infant.” She chanted a spell and disappeared from his view.

He turned his head to his sleeping daughter. His eyes locked in on the trinket that was around her lithe neck. It was the necklace his love had been wearing right before she died. Tears welled up in his eyes when he thought about Amaya’s mother.

“I’m sorry that your mother will never get to know you, my daughter. She was indeed a wonderful woman,” he said as he stumbled over to the crib.

He picked up the blanket that was wrapped around his daughter and breathed in the scent of cherry blossoms, his mate’s favorite perfume. Just taking in her scent reminded him of their first night together, the night Amaya was conceived.

His eyes filled with tears as he collapsed on his knees, shoulders shaking with unshed tears and held back sobs. It was just him to take care of his daughter. He swore on his mate’s soul that he would do everything in his power to make sure she was a good adult.


He never would have guessed that without a mother, how ruthless and unemotional his only daughter would be. This isn’t the vision he had in mind for her.

Ronin was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” he offered as he opened the door. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

A young man walked in, his long braid flowing behind him. “What was you wanted to talk to me about, sir?”

“You are a good friend of Amaya’s, right Nori?”

Nori seemed to think it over. “I’d like to think so, sir. I’m the only one she seems to even tolerate besides you. Why do you ask?”

“I know that you’ve been doing something against our laws, Nori. Your father may have noticed but he has not done anything about it. He’s probably toying with you.”

The man scoffed. “I’m not surprised but what does this have to do with Amaya?”

“I want you to show her where you go, what you do, but please, keep out of trouble. I can’t lose her as well,” he ordered sternly.
Nori was taken back. “Sir, are you insane? Do you know how much trouble Amaya could get in for that?”

“I already know the consequences. I have to live with my scars for the rest of my life but Amaya is too uptight and she needs to have some fun before being tied down to Kaiyo for the rest of her life.”

Nori was shocked, to say the least but he had a deep respect for the demon. “As you wish, sir,” he said before he departed
from the room.

Ronin sighed and ran fingers through his hair. “I hope I’m making the right decision,” he said to no one in particular as he opened another bottle of wine.