Demonbound Elf: Fallen from Grace

It hurts.

My head...

Where am I...?

His vision was blurred, his head was aching, as if he had slammed it against a rock with all his might a dozen times. He could hear myriads of whispers, see countless eyes staring, not at him, but his soul.

Blood spat out from the pitiful Elf's mouth, crimson blood spewed out from his guts, onto the ancient ground.

He weakly raised his hand, stained with his graceful blood. He saw something he shouldn't have.

I don't want to die...

Please...

He could not open his mouth to plea for help, he was quite young in Elven standards.

His fate was undeniably...

It's ... cruel... unfair... unjust.

The Gods hid countless secrets during the First and Second Epoch. He had only been seeking the truth that was buried, why had he been punished for such an act?

The voice was a fragile whisper, frayed and broken, the sound of a soul slipping away, raw with fear and pleading.

"Anyone... Help... Please..."

Inside the cave, it's ancient stone ground shook, as did the hidden altar, he could make out a hidden figure, embodied by the shadows, as if reality itself refused to define it. No eyes could be seen, yet Kieren felt its gaze pierce straight through him, through his soul, to the very depths of his being.

When it opened its mouth to speak, the shadows deepened, curling inward like the maw of some unfathomable beast.

What is "He" saying...? I can't hear him...

The Elf weakly parted his lips. He no longer cared if death claimed him, so long as he passed on what he had learned. Even in his final breath, he would defy their Will. The Gods had cursed him, so he would curse them back.

"'They'... The Gods... 'They'... Lied." Each time the Elf uttered a word, he spat out crimson blood.

Thud

The elf's head crashed into the ground.

I'm dead, but why can I hear the whispers?

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

He suddenly gasped for air as he awoke on his bed.

The pain he had felt just now had dissipated, but his head still ached.

What was that just now? I can't seem to remember...

The majestic elf brought his hands to his face, as if to examine them. He could see a new symbol, it was engraved in his skin. On his right wrist he could see a symbol of a crescent of a moon with steel chains piercing it.

His beautiful thick, long, red hair glistened brightly with the sunrise reflecting from them. His gorgeous emerald eyes were widened, his face contained many wrinkles. He held a look of a mature person.

I could swear to the Goddess, there was blood splattered on them, was there not?

"Who am I?" He asked out loud, clearly puzzled.

Crash , as if answering his question, a card fell on the floor.

He picked it up as it was in reach, it read: "Kieren Rosevell

Certified History Professor of the Twilight Academy."

At that moment Kieren recalled something, other then his name. He was a History Professor for well over three years, how could he have forgotten?

Knock knock knock

Three gentle knocks came from his door, he quickly got up and approached the door. His room was a one room apartment that he had rented for about two years. He made this decision because the apartment was quite affordable and in walking distance for the Twilight Academy, as well as the Church of The Twilight Goddess.

He peeked through the peephole, he could see a tall figure, wearing a blue shirt and black jeans. His blue shirt was accompanied with a shiny silver badge, engraved on the badge was, "Police Department of Redwell."

Police? Kieren was startled, but he cleared his throat and opened his door to see two officers standing side by side.

One of the officers eyes had widened, as if he had seen a ghost, he cleared his throat and walked up.

"Good morning, Sir. I'm with the department of Redwell, I deeply apologize for disturbing your slumber."

Kieren nodded, "Good morning, I have just woken up actually." He studied the officer, he could tell that the officer was quite a tall man, he had a rough stubble shading his jaw, and his eyes were a soft, light brown, matching his neatly combed side part.

Suddenly Kieren felt a sharp pain in his head as he studied the officer, it felt as if he could for some unknown reason see more than just what ordinary people see.

The officer standing alongside the tall man had quite sharp eyes, he was aided with glasses, his height was average. His hair was obsidian black, it looked as if he hadn't combed it when he woke up.

He spoke in a deadpan manner, "We are here to question you, as you may or may not know, Kieren Rosevell had went missing these last two weeks."

As the officer spoke, his obsidian black eyes lightened up, unbeknownst to Kieren, who was naturally perplexed.

"It's been two weeks...? Officers, would you be so kind as to remind me what day it is?"

The sharp officer looked at his partner, there was a long silence before he replied, "26th of June." His voice was low and deep.

26th of June? It's really been 2 weeks...? I can't remember what happened, I know that I was researching some ancient runes and... It's all a blur.

"Officers, I am as perplexed as you are, I can't recall anything after the 13th of June..." Kieren decided to be "honest", he couldn't craft up a lie as to how he managed to disappear without a trace for up to two weeks, it was also too much effort!

The tall officer looked at his partner, seemingly waiting for him to say something.

His partner, the cold messy haired fellow glanced at his partner, "He's telling the truth, but there's some lie."

Some lie? How would you even know if I didn't just make up everything I just said? Kieren lampooned inwardly.

Seeing the silence, Kieren sighed, "I recall that I discovered some runes which had an encrypted message, I was researching how to encrypt it, and I can't recall how I encrypted it, but I ended up in a cave. That's really all I can remember.

Additionally, some of my memories have also become quite unclear. After I went to the cave, I woke up here with a splitting headache, and no clue as to what my name was."

The officers were quiet, before the sharp officer pushed his glasses and gave affirmation with a nod. "It's the truth."

How can you be so certain? Kieren wanted to ask, but stopped himself. Could he be, "Awakened?"

For a moment the officers looked at Kieren in silence, perhaps studying the inside of his room to check if there was something they could use to intrude. That's what Kieren thought anyways.

"If that's all, officers?"

The tall officer put on his hat, "That will be all, thank you for your cooperation."

"I do have a request, officers." Kieren suddenly realized something. I probably would lose my job, if I didn't have the police giving a statement that I had probable cause.

"Would you be able to provide me with a statement? I would prefer to keep my job, my financial situation is already very depressing."

The tall officer sighed before smiling, "Tomorrow, inside your mailbox. Good day."

"Good day." Kieren bid farewell with a satisfied smile on his face as he closed the door.

"So?" The tall officer asked with a low voice.

"He's "Awakened"- No, I should say he's "Awakening". He doesn't realize it yet." The officer with glasses replied with a deep voice, his eyes transitioned from sharp and lively to cold and lifeless.

Sigh, My situation is indeed quite strange, I don't understand how I just lose my memories like that.

Kieren reached into his closet and put on a coat and a top hat, he planned on heading to the Twilight Church and seeking guidance from a priest.

The pain in my head has finally stopped but I feel quite drained.

Kieren sighed, before opening the door and leaving his one room apartment.

He walked through the streets of Redwell, which was the capital of the southern province Kingdom, Rein.

There were many birds which were flapping around and chirping, some even close enough to be touched by the Elf's hand. As soon as Kieren raised his right hand to gently rub a pigeon, suddenly it cawed and flew away, it even started trembling!

Elves are supposed to be very approachable to animals...

Kieren looked at his wrist and studied his symbol, as if asking it "What are you?"

Kieren sighed before he crossed a cobblestone bridge, which leaped over a canal, the water inside the canal was crystal clear, the color was midnight blue.

The cobblestone bridge from his apartment led to a bustling street, filled with market vendors, carriages and travelers. He smiled upon seeing such a scene and headed straight, walking past the fountain, which had a full moon statue on the very top.

As he did, many kids were laughing and chasing each other around the fountain, one even accidentally crashing into a carriage.

"May the Goddess bless them." He then took a sharp left turn, which lead into a market alley, in where many vendors were stationed, at the very end was the Church of The Twilight Goddess.

"Kieren!" A grumpy male voice called out, as he turned his head right, he saw a familiar face.

"Good morning, Davey." Kieren smiled and greeted the young man, he recognized him almost immediately. Davey is Kieren's reliable source to acquire very cheap and affordable bread.

"Well I'll be! I haven't seen yer' ass in ages, how ya' been!" Davey's eyes lighted up as he leaned over the wooden table.

Kieren chuckled, "I've been alright. Can you grab me a loaf of bread when I come back from the church?"

Davey immediately nodded frantically, "I need any money I can get!"

Kieren waved his hand and bid him farewell. Redwill has not changed much... Why am I talking as if I've been away for very long, it's not like I slept two weeks without realizing or anything... For me it's just another day!

He headed inside the Church and prayed together to the Twilight Goddess. Once the prayer and donations ended he approached the priest.

"Good morning sir, I have something that I'm quite puzzled about."

The priest nodded, "Good morning, you must pray to the Goddess and she will always guide you to the right direction."

Kieren rubbed the back of his crimson red, long hair which reached his shoulders, "Well, you see, I recently had a situation when I was researching runes, and I encrypted a rune and I can't remember how but I entered some cave, lost my memory and ended up back in my home without a scratch and lost memories. After I woke up I found out that two weeks had passed without even realizing it."

The priest's face dropped, he coughed, "I know a good psychiatrist."

I'm not lying! You can ask that strange officer wearing glasses!

Noticing Kieren's look, the priest sighed. "If that is truly the case, then you undoubtedly came into contact with an evil existence, perhaps even a God. I will cleanse you and you will drink holy water to purify yourself, afterwards I recommend praising the Goddess, as she is the reason that you are still standing."

Coming into contact with a God has backlashes, if you are a mundane being. If you aren't "Awakened" then you will suffer because your body and mind haven't adapted to the higher state of being that comes with divine or godly power. Because of this, when exposed to the intense energies or realities of a god's existence, your body can't handle it properly, thus resulting you to go mad, or even suffer a fate worse than death.

Being "Awakened" means that your being will transcend far beyond the mundane humans or elves's. To under go an "Awakening" is very difficult, because there are different types of "Awakenings" you can undergo. Kieren understood this concept, and knew that "Awakened" beings had characteristics which mundanes such as Kieren labeled as "Magic." He could not understand how to under go through an "Awakening" or what it meant to go through "different types of Awakenings."

Kieren did understand that there was a severe difference between those that are "Awakening" to those that are truly "Awakened."

Kieren thought for a moment, his guesses weren't far off, he believed that he could've seen an evil existence or a God during his research in the cave which drove him mad, but the Goddess had saved him hence why he was still alive.

"Praise the Goddess." Kieren put his right fist to his heart.

********

Two men entered an ordinary coffee store, one was a very tall gentleman, he had a hat that covered his eyes, he also wore a coat over his blue shirt. Beside him was a man wearing glasses, his gaze was sharp and chilling.

The tall man said in a low voice, "Cappuccino. The light bulb outside has a blue case."

The woman at the counter looked around before nodding and letting them pass behind the counter and go into the backroom.

They quickly made their way through the backroom and walked infront of a door. They pushed it open and headed downstairs, the floor downstairs wasn't dirty as to be expected from a basement. Instead it was beautiful and spacious, the floor was made out of white marble, the walls had a rich design to them, as they walked straight, they opened a door, where many of their other colleagues were sat, some wearing police uniforms whilst others were dressed as priests, merchants. There was a vast diversity in occupations.

The tall one took off his hat when he stopped infront of another door. The taller one had neatly combed, light brown hair, the color which his eyes were also painted by.

The door had engravings of the Twilight Goddess's symbol, which was a full moon, below it was a text. "Captain's room."

The taller one knocked gently once, "Come in." A deep voice echoed throughout the halls.

As they entered, they were met by a man with striking emerald eyes which were sharp and unreadable. He had short smooth, white hair, his face was similarly quite smooth. His youthful features made him look no older than twenty.

The tall man spoke, "Your vision was correct, we encountered a man that was undergoing the state of "Awakening", that source of energy that you sensed was Kieren Rosevell, the elf who disappeared from the face of Earth with no traces for two weeks."

Upon hearing this, the captain smiled, but his eyes did not.