Chapter 22

For several long minutes following my words my grandparents both just stare at me. Then after what felt like several hours of heavy silence my grandmother speaks up in a concerned voice, “What do you mean you would have been executed if you had returned?”

I lock my eyes with hers and answer, “That’s the fate waiting for me after I killed my mother. Why would I have willingly returned somewhere when I knew I was not wanted especially after Agerex made that so abundantly clear each time he found me.”

My grandfathers eyes narrow to slits as he stares hard at me, “What do you mean?”

Shifting my gaze to his I answer, “For the last eight hundred years I have never been able to stay in one place for more than a few weeks, with few exceptions, without having to constantly be wary of an attack from him.”

Celestra looks between me and my grandfather shaking her head as she looks at him asking, “But Tribus, I thought that Agerex was supposed to bring Ebony back here?”

In a low rumbling growl my grandfather replies, “He was. Ebony what you say is a very serious accusation, one I find hard to believe to be honest. I know your brother is not the most trustworthy of our family. But you are accusing him of not only trying to kill you but actively going against my direct orders.”

I stand and unfurl my wings off my shoulders and present my left arm towards the pair of them putting the large scar left from my last fight with my half brother. With more than a touch of anger I barely keep from growling out, “I got this scar from his blade, along with several others. If not for the timely intervention of Chase on that day, my blood would have coated said blade as well as the forest floor. According to Agerex a mutt like me has no value other than to be hunted down and killed.”

My grandmother places a paw over her mouth as Tribus grips the arms of his throne so tight the wood creaks from the stress as I continue, “I don't know, or care what you have told him to do at this point. What I do know is that he won’t settle for anything less than my head on a pike. Something I have no intention of ever giving him. The only reason I am even here now is because of your threat to destroy where I was staying endangered not just me, but Chase and his pack.”

Tribus stares at me with barely controlled fury in his eyes remaining silent for several long moments. Then in a burst of anger my grandfather lifts his right arm and slams a fist down on the rest as he lets loose a tirade of demonic swear words at the top of his voice. Causing the entire chamber to begin shaking from the power being unleashed in them. My grandmother quickly covers her ears with her paws and winces away as I instinctively dive on top of Chase and knock him to the ground covering his ears with my claws.

As he continues to swear it begins to feel like someone is driving hot metal spikes into my ears with each syllable but I force myself to remain conscious and keep Chase covered. Eventually he stops swearing and lowers his voice before looking around and noticing for the first time the effect his little outburst has had.

Chase is mostly buried under my bulk and struggling to uncover his ears, Celestra is leaning heavily against the back of her throne with a glazed look. Once I am certain my grandfather is through with his tirade I turn on him with a snarl releasing Chase, “What the hell was that for? You could have killed us just then!”

He locks his eyes on me with a cold simmering anger which makes his voice sound distant and muffled, “Watch your tone boy. I will not be spoken...”

Throwing what little caution I have left to the side I do the stupidest thing in my life and cut off my grandfather, “I will not watch my tone, not anymore. You know there are mortals in this hall right now. Grandma may have had your magic supporting her all these centuries but she is still mortal. Chase has no such protection and your outburst would have killed him had I not been here.”

Grandfather opens his mouth to reply angrily then stops as his eyes shift from mine to a spot slightly to the left. It’s at that moment I feel for the first time the warm wetness flowing down the sides of my face. Placing a paw on the side of my head just below my left ear I run it through my fur before pulling it away. Looking down at it causes me to smirk before I turn it towards him.

On my palm is a rather large amount of my own dark blood. Locking eyes with him again I say, “And it looks as though you could have killed me as well with that outburst. Or have you forgotten that even though I have your blood in my veins, I am still more mortal than demon.”

In his multicolored eyes I can see the storm of emotions raging. His anger at being talked to so disrespectfully, the fury of my claiming to be threatened with death, and something I have never seen from him before.... shame. For several long breaths we stand there in silence until movement to his left catches my eye.

Celestra has regained her senses and is now resting a paw on his leg. As both of us turn to look at her she looks straight at my grandfather and says, “Ebony is right. You were reckless, inconsiderate, and down right rude just then with your words. You know good and well just how dangerous that language can be when used in anger.”

Grandfathers face twitches at her words before he closes his eyes and nods, “You’re right. I was thoughtless.”

He turns his gaze back on me and says, “But that does not give you the right to cut me off or be insolent to your Lord.”

With a barely suppressed snarl I stand up to my full height while Chase works to get back on his feet. Taking a step towards the thrones I reply in a voice edging towards a shout, “My lord?  MY LORD!? After eight centuries of being hunted, threatened, injured, outcast, and marked for death with no contact from this family, save that of my attacker, you honestly think I owe you any allegiance? Hell the only reason I even returned now was to answer your threat against others.”

Tribus shoots to his feet in a blur raising an arm to strike me as he answers just as fiercely, “You have no right to ever speak to me in that tone, you young whelp....”

Before he can hit me however two sources of movement catch our eyes. One is Chase standing in front of me as he grabs my sheathed sword and begins to draw it with an almost feral snarl on his muzzle. The other is Celestra also stepping between us with a raised hand holding a ball of fire aimed not at me or Chase but at my grandfather.

The sudden changes in their positions catches both of us off guard, having become so focused on the other we had blinded ourselves to all else. For a moment Tribus stares at the both of them before opening his mouth to speak only to be cut off by Chase, “I don’t care one bit about your claim to lordship here and likely never will. But if you try and hurt one hair on Eb I won’t hesitate to do my best to cut you in half.”

It was at that moment that my grandfathers eyes fell to the blade now fully exposed in Chase’s paws before lifting up to my eyes allowing a moment of shock and concern to flash across them before Celestra speaks, “Tribus, I love you very much, but for once I agree with your guest here. You are the one who has over stepped his bounds. From what Ebony has said he has been under the impression we have wanted him dead since he was a very young pup, and quite frankly you’re not doing much to change his views on that.”

Growling Tribus lowers his arms and sits back down. After a moment my grandmother dismisses her fireball and Chase relaxes his stance. Reaching over to him I carefully take my blade from him and return it to its scabbard. Once everyone has calmed down on the surface Celestra speaks up, “As for your tone Ebony, you know good and well under normal circumstances how very rude and threatening it was.”

For a reply I just cross my arms and let out a slow breath before saying, “I do, but I do not apologize for it.”

She nods her head sadly, “And I understand that, but please believe me when I say that your life was never in any danger had you returned here.”

I raise an eyebrow at her comment but say nothing as she amends her statement, “In any more danger than is normal I mean. None of us were condemning you to death... at least that we were aware of.”

A long slow sigh comes from my grandfather before he says, “Ebony, I do apologize for my anger and my outburst. But you must realize that being accused of trying to have you killed was a very hard thing to hear. Especially considering you are telling us your brother has been the one telling you that, though I must admit it has the sound of truth in it.”

He takes a deep breath before rubbing his forehead at the base of his horns, “And if it is true it makes some recent events much easier to understand, and all the more troubling as well.”

Tilting my head slightly I ask, “What do you mean?”

Instead of answering he looks over at Celestra who says, “You need to tell him. Soon enough he will be dealing with it himself.”

He nods then turns back to me. Before saying anything though he raises his right hand and traces several lines in front of him with a finger causing burning runes of flame to appear in thin air. Once he has finished the runes he waves a finger and two chairs appear before Chase and myself. Gesturing towards the chairs he says, “Please sit, both of you. What we are about to tell you is known by very few outside of this room.”

As we take our respective seats he turns towards Chase and addresses him for the first time, “As for you I owe you an apology. I take it that you felt as though your home and those you protect were being threatened by me because of the message I sent to Ebony, correct?”

Chase nods saying, “Thats right, sir.”

Tribus nods a bit before saying, “Well for what it is worth you were never in any more danger from me than you were from any other demon. Less so perhaps since I haven’t left my realm since before Ebony was born. Though I do admire your courage for coming here to address what you perceived as a threat.”

Chase inclines his chin with more than a little pride as my grandfather continues, “That being said, what you are about to hear will likely place you and your pack in great danger. Though I get the feeling the danger will already be there regardless of what you hear now.”

At that point my grandmother begins speaking, “Ebony, before you were born your grandfather made a decision to one day step down from his position as the Thrice Crowned Lord and hand the title off to one of his children. Well as you can imagine that caused quite the stir amongst your fathers generation. There was fighting, back stabbing, power plays, all manner of politics and deal making.

“Well over the course of several years most of your aunts and uncles formed alliances against each other driving us crazy with their attempts to prove who was most worthy. Eventually your grandfather had to step in and put a stop to it.”

I raise an eyebrow in my grandfathers direction and with a dismissive wave he says, “Everyone was still able to walk afterwards..... eventually.”

Celestra pats his arm then says, “Any way, after he brought an end to the infighting he announced that no one in their generation who took sides would be given the throne after their obvious greed for power. Of course there was one who didn’t take sides in the... conflict.”

When she says those words I feel the words fall from my mouth before even thinking it, “My father.”

She nods with a small grin, “That’s right. It was at about that same time your parents first met and it was at her urging that he didn't get involve. Though as you know he had sired other children before he met her with other demons. But she was the first he truly loved. So as I said he didn't take part in the conflict and naturally all his siblings assumed he would be given the throne as a result.”

Tribus speaks up then, “And he would have gotten it in time except for one thing...”

He turns his gaze on me and says one word, “You.”

I look back and forth between them in confusion before Chase asks the question that had been forming in my mind, “Why would Ebony have had any effect on that?”

A flash of irritation goes across my grandfathers face at the unsolicited question before he says, “When Ebony was born his mother was afraid that he would be used by others in the family as a tool to try and manipulate his father. So in an effort to prevent that he publicly renounced any claim to the throne. This... we thought... was the end of it.”

Crossing my arms and leaning back in the chair as best I can given the spikes on my spine I ask, “Let me guess, someone didn’t think that was enough?”

This time my grandmother clears her throat before saying, “Not exactly. Most accepted it in fact and moved on. That was until an old writing was found that contained what some have come to see as a prophecy.”

I roll my eyes and move to stand, “Great so some old crack pot wrote down something that sounded impressive and vague and now I'm a target is that it? Thanks but no thanks. You can tell the family it has nothing to do with me and for them to leave me alone and we can all go our separate ways.”

Tribus’s voice echoes around the room “SIT DOWN!”

My body acts before I even have time to process the command and plants my ass back in the chair. Celestra lets out an exasperated sigh as she looks over at her husband before turning back to me saying, “Its not that simple Ebony. According to the writings the son of a half demon hybrid would rise to be the strongest of all demons and claim more lands for his domain than all his forefathers.”

Raising an eyebrow but keeping my mouth shut she continues, “Well as you can imagine when that became public knowledge demons all over the place were in an uproar.”

I raise a palm to interject, “Wait, when did all this happen cause I have never heard about any of this before and from the way your talking about it makes me think your fixing to tell me something I really do not want to hear.”

She glances at Tribus who nods before she continues, “Well it all happened during your awakening actually. When your parents were trying to get you to safety is when they were attacked and it sent you into a premature awakening.”

My blood runs cold in my veins as I say, “But I remember everything up till I blacked out, we were not being attacked. Mom and dad were leading me somewhere safe. We were alone when I blacked out from my demonic side manifesting..... weren’t we?”

Tribus shakes his head sadly, “No, you weren’t alone. Your blacking out wasn’t caused by your awakening, it triggered your awakening early. You were the target of the initial attack and when you were knocked out, because you were so close to a natural awakening, your inner demon was able to take over fully but with no control or conscious thought. If that had been the end of it things may have turned out differently but....”

Celestra takes up the story saying, “From what we have been able to piece together since then someone was trying to kill you and your parents. But they underestimated your fathers strength and your newly awakened demonic powers. Your father fought fiercely and was badly injured trying to fend off the attackers, but he was unable to stop your mother being injured.

“We are not sure exactly what occurred that night, as your father never said exactly how it happened, but we know that somehow your mother was stabbed and as she was dying in your arms it sent your demon into a rage the likes of which no one in the family has seen before or since. We found the remains of no less than fifteen attackers, possibly many more, scattered around the area where we found your mother and father.”

The shock of the revelation that I was not the one who killed my mother has caused my brain to shut down as everything I thought I knew about myself, my family, and the most traumatic day of my life comes crashing down around me. For several long moments I just sit there starting at my grandparents with a slack jaw. I can feel my mouth trying to move but nothing comes out. 

Then a voice seems to echo from a great distance and I hear Chase say, “But Ebony told me that the first thing he remembered after his awakening was being chased through the forest by who he thought was his family with the blood of his mother on his claws.”

Tribus nods gravely, “That is true, but he doesn't remember the entirety of it. We weren’t trying to chase him down for killing his mother. We were trying to keep him safe.”

Their words echo into the void now filling my mind. For eight hundred years I have been running from what I thought was the greatest crime I could ever have committed. Never once had I dared hope that I was not responsible for my mothers death. After all this time the greatest shame and secret I every carried has been washed away with a single truth.

“Eb.... Ebony....... EBONY!”

My mind focuses back to the present and I look up at my grandmother as speech begins to return to me, “Sorry what?”

She looks at me with a concerned look, “Are you ok? You haven’t said anything for several minutes now.”

Slowly I shake my head, “No I’m not alright. You just told me that for the last eight hundred years my entire life has been motivated on one single lie. A lie that has only been reinforced by Agerex. Even if I am not guilty of what you say, it doesn’t change the fact that nothing I thought was true.”

She makes a motion to reach for me but draws back as I rise from my seat and begin pacing behind my seat as I rake my claws down my face, tracing furrows in the patches of fur there. As I pace my tail lashes out behind me sending my pack skidding across the floor in front of the thrones spilling the contents. Over and over I stomp back and forth before turning on my grandfather and almost yelling one word, “WHY?”

My sudden out burst seems to catch him off guard as his eyes snap up from the mess my belongings have made to my own as he asks, “Why what?”

With a suppressed growl in my throat I reply, “Why did you not send someone else to find me? Why did it take you eight centuries to contact me directly? Why now tell me all of this? WHY DID YOU NEVER TRY AND TELL ME I DID NOT KILL MY MOTHER!?”

The last question bursts from my mouth with such volume it leaves my throat raw as the word mother echoes repeatedly around the great throne room. As the sounds die down leaving behind a silence greater than before filling the expanse. Standing there panting from the sudden out burst I feel another trickle of warmth flowing down my muzzle. This time however it is coming from my eyes.

As the tears begin to fall from my muzzle Tribus does something I would not have expected of the old demon. He lets out a long slow sigh as his shoulders slump and a look of shame covers his face. Eventually he opens his mouth saying, “Ebony, I never knew you didn’t know the truth. If I had I would have come and found you personally. You are not the only one who has been lied to. Agerex has told us that he was never able to track you down, so none of us knew where you were.”

The mention of my brother sends another of spike of rage through me as I reply, “That lying son of a bitch is no relation of mine and I do not want to ever hear his name again.”

Celestra stands and steps toward me reaching out, “Ebony I know your upset. Please sit down and let us finish telling you everything.”

I jerk back from her touch causing a look of hurt to fill her eyes as she lowers her paw, “Upset? Upset is burning dinner. Upset is spilling ink on your books. Upset is finding out someone you care about has died. I am so far past upset right now, I don’t even know where I am.”

Just then a touch falls on my arm and at first I instinctively pull away before seeing Chase standing beside me his paw resting on my arm. As I look down into his eyes I feel some of the anger and hurt seep away. Without saying a word he gestures back towards my seat. 

This time my feet move on their own as he leads me back before sitting down beside me. Through the whole event my grandparents watch the pair of us with a confused look. Once I am back in my seat I lean forward elbows on my knees head in my claws eyes closed as the tears continue to fall, quickly forming a small puddle between my feet.

For several long minutes we all sit there in silence. Tribus shifting occasionally on his throne while Chase keeps a paw rested on my shoulder. Gradually I regain control of my emotions as I wipe my face on the back of a my right arm before glancing over at Chase and nodding, “Thanks.”

He just nods and settles back in his chair before glaring back up at my grandfather before saying calmly, “You have caused more than a little heartache today. But something tells me that you aren’t through are you? I want to make it very clear right now, my pack and I have all grown to consider Ebony as one of our family. He is very dear to all of us and while we may have saved his life, he has given us a gift far greater than we could have ever hoped for.”

Looking at me for a second before returning his gaze to my grandparents Chase continues, “He has taught my pack how to read and write, opening whole new worlds up to us we never before dreamed existed. Jake, one of our youngest, used to burn water so bad you couldn't drink it. Thanks to Eb he has not only learned how to cook, but has developed a passion and love for the art and has created some of the best meals we have ever enjoyed.

“My beta and his mate have even toyed with the idea of naming one of their first born pups after him, though I recommended against. The point I’m trying to make is that if you hurt him you hurt all of us. We may not be gifted in magic, or have demon blood, or able to step between realms. But we will find a way to make things right for him, one way or another. This is not a threat, just a promise.”

A lump forms in my throat at his words as I look up at my grandparents who are looking not at Chase but at each other with concerned looks before Celestra turns back to me saying, “Ebony.... We never meant to cause you any pain. All we wanted was for you to come home. Had we known the full truth of what was happening you can be sure that we would have come personally. But Chase is right, we haven't even gotten to the heart of the matter yet.”

She looks over at Tribus who picks up where she stopped, “The revelation you have given me regarding your brother has made a few pieces of a much bigger puzzle fall into place. For many years now there has been a growing bit of trouble regarding attacks on my domain. Most of these attacks can be attributed to other demon lords trying to find a weakness and exploit it. But some have been surprisingly well informed as to where and when to hit for the most damage. I have long feared that we had someone from in our family giving the information out, now I think I know who and why.”

I look up at him with confusion, “What do you mean why?”

Tribus takes a breath before answering, “Given your story’s about Agerex I believe now he is at the very least involved in this attempt at a take over, if not fully in charge of it. As for why.... well that is the part I thought would be the worst of our conversation today.”

He glances over at my grandmother who nods with a small smile before he turns back to me and says, “Agerex is mostly likely doing all of this out of jealousy and lust for power. After the events during your awakening I decided to choose a new successor to my throne. I had thought this was kept secret from all but it seems that some have figured out my plan and Agerex is one of them.”

I look up at my grandfather and feel a heavy weight fall into the pit of my stomach as he continues, “I have chosen you to be my successor Ebony. You are the crowned prince of my domain, and have been for some time now.”