Never wake a Dragon (on hold)

8. part V - man vs demon

His body was screaming. His head was screaming. It was a battle of will. Of nature. He was fighting something he thought he'd known for centuries. But he hadn't. This was something else. Something so full of rage that threatened to consume him from within. His consciousness twisted and turned within itself, locked in a strange battle for dominance he feared he might not win. His nature had taken control. His nature was separate—something that wasn't him. The revelation screamed at him with the fury of a teenage tantrum.

Parts of him wanted to cry, break down and just let the demon have what was left of him. But he couldn't stop fighting, not when he knew that Nev was in the room. If he let go, he would have no control and he feared this demon inside of him knew nothing of friends or allies. He'd been demoted to a host.

All these years.

Who am I?

Was this the reason why he'd never been able to stay away from society? And his friendship with Nev... He'd never heard of a demon with friends before. Every other demon he'd heard of hated company by default.

So who was he? Had his parents not created him? Had they done something else? Had he been someone before? Had there been a before? He couldn't remember. He'd never had a childhood. His memories started from when he'd been a young man, or teenager. He didn't know. Nothing made sense.

Had someone stolen his childhood? All these thoughts, all fears and worries jumbled up in a fearsome mess. He'd never felt so confused at any point during the three centuries he'd been alive, not even when his free will had been fractured by his parents' control. Breathing hard, he tried to calm down. Anger wouldn't help him fight the beast into submission.

He attempted his regular methods, pulling each strand of power deeper into himself. It was a painful process this time. Pure agony followed the retreat, and he imagined his skin burning from inside although nothing showed. he began to notice the difference. Distorted sounds pulsed in his ears while the world around him slowly faded from flaring bright to a muted glow. Reality set in with brutal honesty.

The council was on their way. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. It was a feeling but also a memory as if stolen from somewhere far away.

Nev stood where he'd left him, wide-eyed and silent, but it became hard to focus on the vampire when Kyung stepped into his line of vision. The dragon appeared to be taller, wider, and two shades darker. He'd never seen such anger expressed without words before. It was a fury only rivaled by the one he'd felt within himself too many times to count.

Not even Lorian's expression could compete with Kyung's. The fae appeared shocked more than anything else.

It was time to breathe, perhaps even to run away. The room was absolutely silent as if they all waited for him to make the first move.

He was surprised when Nev broke the stand-still, approaching fast. "What do you mean. Who are on their way?" The worry in Nev's voice made him recoil. He loved Nev as a friend, trusted him above everything and wanted to blurt out everything to get it off his chest. But he couldn't reply. He had words but they refused to leave him. He had no way to express how he knew about the Council.

Lorian pushed forward as well, his voice sharp with anger. "Is this not reason enough to lock him up?"

Kyung's stare didn't waver from Adeem, not even when the dragon replied, "I thought you would be the first to want the Council among us, Lorian. You wanted this meeting right here in this room. You wanted to accuse these two in front of the Council. This is your doing."

"No, this is not my fault. Lock them up or I will do it." The fae halted a fair distance away from Kyung, seething.

Kyung appeared unperturbed, still not looking at the Fae. "You have no authority to lock up anyone."