Magic & Monsters

Prologue

Demons are practically invincible; it's damn near impossible to kill one. But a half demon is an entirely different story. It is vulnerable, human blood makes it prone to weakness and pain. My Father found this very interesting.

At first, it hurt like hell. It took every ounce of my strength to not cry out in pain. Then around the 35th strike I passed out. After that I was just numb. The barbs that lined the edges of the whip caught in my skin a few times. They had to tear it out. I didn't even flinch. You see, their torture devices weren't regular ones. They were infused with pain-enhancing magic to make them a more sadistic tool. Time flew by. I don't know how much time had passed when the heavy black boots entered my line of vision.
"Enough." His voice sliced through the dead air even though it was barely above a whisper. My attackers stepped back and Father drew closer. "Do you realize what you have done?" He rasped in that horrible voice of his. I didn't bother answering because I knew that he would start talking again. No one could say he didn't love that sound of his own voice. Just as I thought, he continued, "A priceless artifact of mine has been stolen. By a little girl. Do you realize how that makes me look?" Then he raised his voice to a shout. "And to think, all this could have been avoided if it wasn't for your carelessness!" He emphasized that last word by striking me across the face so hard that my lip split. My chin lolled to my chest. He grasped my face with a hand and brought it up to face his. "Pathetic," he hissed. I spit blood at his face. The others in the room inhaled sharply but Father calmly wiped my blood and spit off his face. He turned to the side and called out, "Bring her in."
She walked into the room in a simple white nightgown and with her blond curls tumbling down her slender shoulders. At age nine she was already a beauty. Sometimes I was glad that Father always locked her up; many would try to take advantage and I could only protect her from so much. Unfortunately, she hadn't yet learned to hide her emotions and her fear and distress was written clear on her face. Father cruelly smiled and motioned at her to join him. "Come child. Come to me." She knew better than to deny his command and cautiously shuffled closer to him. When she was close enough, Father lunged at her and enclosed his hand around her throat and lifted her above the ground. Her eyes bulged and she clawed weakly at his hands.
"No!" I screamed. He never laid his hands on her before. I always made sure to be the one to get the punishments so that she would be spared. "Please!" She was innocent. This was all my fault. She was getting punished because of me. A self loathing filled me as I cried "Please" over and over again; each plea hoarser and quieter than the last until I was mumbling. He dropped her and she crumbled to the floor, taking deep breaths and clutching her bruised neck. He strode back to me and fisted my hair to meet his face. "You are my son. You. Do. Not. Beg." He punctuated each word with a slap. I didn't have much fight left but I was not going to go down without a fight. "I'm not your son. And you aren't my father. You're just some crazy son of a b-"His fist came flying out of nowhere and cut my words short. "It appears that my son has not learned his lesson. Let's make sure he never forgets it again." He snapped his fingers and an imp scampered into the room while holding a blinding white brand in its gloved hands. My eyes bulged and I struggled against the chains. Father held me down while the imp scurried to my back. There was that silence. A calm before the storm before Father signaled the imp and he jabbed the brand onto my wounds. Over and over and over again. I couldn't scream, I couldn't cry. The pain was too much. All I could do was gasp out her name before the world faded into darkness. Alessandra...

  ******************************************************************************************** 

Okay, now let's call this my official first time writing. Copyright, copyright, yada-yada-yada. All constructive criticism is welcome. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. But other than that, whoa! This is actually happening. Going to go eat ice cream to congratulate myself. And to thank you for reading, please enjoy this advice:

"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."