Sylius walked along the corridor with caution. Even for a man as powerful and confident as he was, being around the demons created some fear in him. Besides, he was surrounded by them in every direction. There were demons walking in front of him; there were demons walking behind him; and there were demons walking on either side of him. He would not want to be the creature caught in the middle of a mess. Thankfully, his presence in their kingdom was more of a transactional nature. If all went to plan, he would be out of there in no time, without any hassle. Sylius could not help but think about how he’d got to where he was. He had had it all and lost it all. His father, the great Polius had sacrificed so much for them to acquire the throne of the Unseelie court, making him the dark Prince and heir to the throne. All he had to do was manage that throne and complete his reign. Unfortunately, there was one thorn in his side that he could never seem to remove; that annoying prick from the Seelie court, Darragh. Sylius spat when he thought about Darragh. He just could not get rid of that damned Darragh and he didn’t understand why. It was Darragh who’d set back all of the victories that he’d gained in the war. It was Darragh who’d found Martha and paraded her in front of everyone as the long-lost Princess Selene. It was Darragh who’d attacked his castle and usurped him from the throne. It was Darragh who’d taken away his freedom and imprisoned him. Every step of his journey where something went wrong, Darragh was right in the middle of it, being an insufferable twat. Sylius wanted nothing more than to get rid of him once and for all.

All this time he had spent in prison, however short it was, had been one of the most horrifying experiences of his life. First, that bitch, Martha or Princess Selene as it turned out, had taken away his magic. He had lived his entire life with the use of magic so he could not do anything without it. He felt paralyzed and useless. Also, he was in the same prison as the people he had imprisoned during his reign. It was depressing. They taunted him; they called him names; spat on him. One of them, a particularly brave one called Justyn who used to be a soldier punched him in the face as often as he could. To be fair, Sylius had stripped Justyn of his magic and imprisoned him because he had refused to go to the war front without getting paid first. Obviously Justyn still held a lot of resentment towards him. Thankfully, there were still soldiers in the Unseelie army who remained loyal to Sylius. Martha and her people were making the Unseelie court go through a ‘cleansing ritual’ and therapy to take away all of the dark magic in the court. It was demeaning and unacceptable and Sylius was glad that those soldiers thought so too. They broke into the prison in the middle of the night and freed him from his cell. Before he left the prison, Sylius took a knife from one of the soldiers that had come to rescue him and turned to face a cowering Justyn. Sylius laughed at him because people like Justyn only ever had temporary power. It was him, Sylius the son of Polius who was destined for an everlasting reign. He held Justyn’s head up and slit his throat with one swift swipe of his blade.

All the demons walking with Sylius were wearing cloaks. Sylius muttered a silent thanks when he saw this and realized he would not have to suffer looking at them. The demons were hideous looking creatures. Even so, they insisted that whoever was talking to them not look away. However, the cloak only covered them to a small extent. Their hunched over humanoid shape was still clearly visible; the horns on the crowns of their heads elevated their cloaks and caused it to point upwards; their cloaks did not cover their hands which showed their sickly pink skin with dark patches. Sylius noticed though, that what filled the air the most was the dark magic emanating from these demons. It was overwhelming and choking. It tightened his chest, fogged his brain and made it hard for him to breath. Every breath with each step was laboured and he feared that he might pass out. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they walked into what appeared to be a room. Sylius could not tell for sure because they did not walk through any doorway nor were there any windows. It was just a smaller portion of the corridor with a seat at the far end. On that seat was the demon that Sylius wanted to see.

“Unseelie King, I’ve been expecting you.” The demon pulled back his cloak to expose his bald head. The sight of it traumatised Sylius more than he was willing to admit. He swallowed hard.

“I’m afraid that title no longer belongs to me. My throne has been hijacked.” Sylius said, mustering as much confidence as he could in the face of the demon in front of him.

“Ah yes,” The demon said and Sylius noticed a fond smile but it was gone as fast as it appeared. “The changeling.”

“She is no changeling. She connived with her friends in the Seelie court and they orchestrated a coup to rid me of my throne.”

“I do not care at all for Fae politics. It will be in your best interest to get to the point of why you are here before I lose interest in talking to you.”

Absentmindedly, Sylius took a step forward. Immediately, all the demons who had been standing guard got into combat positions and raised their hands at him. Sylius saw as well as felt, the dangerous magic that threatened to erupt from their hands and could not stop himself from panicking. If these demons attacked him, he would die.

“It’s okay.” The demon said to his minions. “The Unseelie king does not understand the ways of our court.”

The demons relaxed with this command and Sylius let out a breath that he did not even realize he was holding. 

“Now, tell me what you want before you suffer another misstep because I would never deny my children the satisfaction of Fae blood twice.” The demon said with a smile that told Sylius he meant what he said.

“I want power. Enough power to take back my throne and destroy everything that stands in my way. I want to be unstoppable. Every man or Fae who tries to take what is mine should not live to see the light of day.” Sylius said, each word more venomous than the last. “That changeling who took my throne also took away my powers. I want to return to the Fae realm more powerful than before. I want to destroy her.”

“Power is a tricky request to grant, Fae. You are, after all, already a powerful man yourself even if you have no magic at the moment.” The demon looked Sylius up and down as if he was sizing up the Fae. “Whatever power was granted to you must be the kind that does not already exist in the Fae world.”

The demon stood up and began to walk closer to Sylius. Sylius felt himself tense up and his mind began to race. Had he made the right request? Was coming here a big mistake?

“I will give you the power that you seek, Fae.” The demon said, now standing only a few feet from Sylius. “But in return you will give me a seat at the table in the Unseelie Court and eventually the Fae Court.”

Sylius took a moment to think about the demon’s request. He was conflicted as to whether getting the power that he sought was worth granting a powerful demon a seat at the table with the Fae. His mind raced as he thought about all the possible scenarios that could ensue. He knew very well what the demon was capable of and he could piece together what his plan was. He most likely intended to use that seat at the table to try to gain control of the Fae world. Sylius had no intention of allowing that to happen but that was not his problem right now. In fact, as long as Martha and Darragh ruled the Unseelie and Seelie Courts respectively. First and foremost, he had to get rid of those imposters, then he would find a way to deal with the demons.

“So, what do you say?” The demon appeared to be losing his patience.

“We have a deal.”

There was a satisfied smile on the demon’s face that Sylius wished he could punch off his ugly face but it was too soon to make an enemy of this creature. Besides, he had yet to get what he was there for. As the demon walked closer, his smile grew wider, Sylius could feel the dark magic in the room increase. Silius could sense the demons were getting excited and involuntarily creating an atmosphere of darkness. He stood rooted in one spot. He could not move even if he wanted to. The demon stopped a few inches from Sylius and stared up at him. Sylius could see the demon’s ugly skin. He could smell every bit of the creature; he smelled like burnt skin, like despair, like torture. Sylius held his breath. It was all he could do to not throw up.

“I will give you a rare form of dark magic. Possessing it will give you an edge over not only your enemies but on every other creature as well. You will have the ability to take on any shape and creature that you wish. You will use this to your liking and destroy your enemies. That’s not all, I will also give you one of my favourite pets, the Zynite; a ruthless and ferocious beast that I trust you will enjoy. But remember, if you fail to grant me my request, I will not stop until I have your head.”

“I understand.” Sylius could not help the smile that formed on his face. He watched the demon raise his hands. Sparks of light began to appear slowly on his fingers. They shot out of his hands into the air in all colours; red, purple, green, blue, black, orange & violet and formed runes and shapes that were incomprehensible to Sylius. Each coloured light from each finger stretched forth towards the ceiling like a rope emanating from the source finger which then turned back towards the ground pointing directly at him. As they increased in intensity and raced down towards his head, Sylius closed his eyes and felt the dark magic encapsulate the room. The first light hit the centre of his head and another coiled around his neck. In a few seconds, all of the individual lights had engulfed his entire body. The effect started like needles prickling every inch of his skin and as he adjusted to the feeling, he felt like his skin was being torn off his bones and screamed out to the heavens before losing consciousness.

When Sylius came to, he was on the floor. The events that caused him to pass out came back to him in a flash and he looked down at his hands and the rest of his body to see if anything had changed. As far as he could see, everything remained as it was before. He looked around the room. Most of the demons that had surrounded him before were no longer there and the room was almost empty except for their leader who sat on his seat at the end of the room and watched Sylius intently. Sylius carefully got to his feet.

“For a moment I thought you would be able to withstand the pain. Clearly, I was wrong, you’re just as weak as all the rest of your kind.”

Sylius took a deep breath in. “Does this mean I have the power to take any shape I want now?”

“Yes, you can be anything you can think of. Give it a try.”

Sylius was confused for a moment but he thought about what he wanted to become and he focused his mind. Slowly, he felt himself shrink. Hair sprouted from his skin. His teeth grew sharper and two of them pointed out of his mouth. He was on all fours. He opened his mouth to talk but instead, a low growl emanated. He had transformed into a wolf.

The demon smiled to himself and whistled. A ferocious looking beast burst out from behind him immediately. It had six limbs and stood at about four feet tall. Its tail was several feet long as well and had spikes pointing out of it. It had a singular eye on its forehead and the rest of its face was made up of a very wide mouth with atrociously large teeth. Even in wolf form, Sylius took several steps backward when this beast appeared.

“You have no reason to be afraid.” The demon said amusingly. “This Zynite is yours now and it will do your bidding. Go and destroy your enemies.”

Sylius changed back into his human form. He took slow cautious steps to zynite and when he was right in front of it, he put his hand on its head. The creature growled at him and he fell back.

“Don’t do that. They don’t like their heads touched.”

Sylius got back on his feet and went around the zynite. This time he put his hand on its torso and the creature responded by lying calmly on the ground. Sylius climbed on its back and looked over at the demon who nodded his head and gave him the go-ahead. Sylius slapped the zynite on the back and before he could prepare, the creature began running and they were flying out of the demon’s kingdom at breakneck speed. The demon watched Sylius and the zynite go and thought about what he was going to do next. This Fae was just as power drunk as he wanted. Enough to wreak havoc and get whatever he wanted at whatever the cost. He would get his seat at the table and from then on, his influence would know no bounds.

***

Sylius’s first destination after leaving the demon's lair, was the human realm. If there was anywhere that he could test out his new powers with little or no opposition, it was in the human realm. He made his way to Farrington Kingdom. He hated that particular kingdom with a passion and he couldn’t think of anywhere else he would prefer to test out his new powers. He drew a rune the witches had taught him to transport himself there since he still did not have his original powers and couldn’t create a portal himself. He waited on his zynite until he heard what sounded like the voices of women approaching, he smiled to himself. His zynite was about to taste the sweet blood of human females.