The screaming was the worst part, if Iona had to pick one thing. The screaming and the thunderous thudding against the very earth, the creaking of wooden roofs and walls as they were destroyed carelessly. However the sheer desperation in the screams, or perhaps how some just suddenly ended was the most mind warping bit. Until today the young woman hadn't known it was possible for anyone to scream so loud or for so many people to raise such noise. Now that she did know the noise just echoed in her skull endlessly.

For a long while she was certain she was adding to the sound until she found no noise was coming from her opened lips. Maybe a croak but if so it was lost in the sea of sickening sounds that now made up her world. She knew that she should be running but she didn't. Her legs were like stone and refused to move as she stared. Her eyes were wide and fixed in horror at a singular sight. The cause of all of this horrid screaming, of all of the noise really. Something she had heard of in legend but never thought to see in her life.

Pair of yellow eyes peered malevolently across the village, alight with twisted glee. Flawless lips were curled into a savage grin, exposing teeth that had once been pure ivory but were now possessed of crimson stains. Armor black as the void covered the form of a woman, though to call this being a woman seemed a gross understatement. Armored fingers curled around a blade stained red, which crashed into a house with an almost effortless sweeping motion. A shower of splinters and gore cascaded from the swing as the weapon obliterated lumber and people alike. A great colossus stood high above the ravaged village, her very steps thundering upon the earth.

An armored leg came up and brought an ebon boot down upon another home, ending the cries of those within instantly. Iona found the sights almost impossible to process. A demi. A demi had decided to visit their little village. Judging from the look on her heart achingly beautiful face the demi herself seemed to treat this as a game. Then again Iona supposed to her people were mere ants. She lifted her other foot, which came smashing down on a trio of men running from the gigantic woman to extinguish their lives.

Iona heard a loud rumbling noise from above and it took but a moment for Iona to realize the giant warrior was chuckling. She casually brushed strands of golden hair from her face as she peered down at the fleeing humans. The demi seemed in no great hurry to pursue and took her time in crushing the homes she passed, stone or lumber it was all the same under her tred. The human staring up at her screamed at her legs to move but found they would not do so. She was glued to the spot as she stared helplessly up at the giantess.

A rough grip found her arm finally and turned her around, tugging her along. A brown haired young man. Simon. Her brother. Yes, this was her brother. He was shouting something to her that was muffled by the screaming. He pointed to the treeline beyond the village many were fleeing to and the young woman got the idea. With him tugging her along Iona found her legs again and ran with him. The thunderous steps behind her still rang in her skull as did that awful chuckle. How could something like that be real?

There were many people ahead of them, running towards the forest. Those that fell were left behind by many while some lingered to try and help along family members. Iona herself stumbled several times but found Simon her saving grace. Her older brother helped her along as she worked on recovering from her shock to focus on escape. How did one simply recover from seeing that? How could one accept that their eyes were still functioning after witnessing a demi casually step over a village, trampling countless lives out with scarce a thought?

"Iona! Come on, we are nearly there!" Finally she could hear Simon's voice and the sound was enough for her to focus on.

They were indeed nearly there, some of the people were almost at the treeline. That was when she noted Simon's eyes widened as he was looking back at her. Iona looked back herself just as she heard the frequent thundering of the demi's footsteps. The woman shadow fell over her and many others as she stepped over many and onto those at the treeline. She swept her blade out along the ground as well, throwing back Iona and her brother and annihilating those caught in its path.

Iona felt her head buzzing as she stared up and watched the armored giantess methodically smear people against the ground with the toe of her boots. None made it to the tree line, indeed many ran in the opposite direction back to the ravaged village. Anything to escape this being that seemed to find enjoyment in crushing out the lives of so many. Iona stood and found her brother standing nearby. She felt a brief wave of relief at seeing that he had survived, her eyes turning back towards the armored woman.

She had scooped up a group of people in her gauntleted hand and raised it up over her parting lips. The demi had done that before when she had first appeared and it was just as horrific now as it had been then. She opened her fingers to allow her captives to tumble down into her gaping maw, their screams muting as she closed her mouth. The being didn't chew like she had last time, simply swallowing the handful whole and tracing their passage down her throat with a single finger and a content sigh. Iona almost threw up.

The demi's eyes fell upon her next target and it filled Iona with panic; her brother.

The thunderous footfalls drew nearer and nearer as the demi looked disdainfully down at the recovering man. She started to reach down and that spurred Iona to move without thinking. Indeed, she ran straight for her brother. The demi's fingers closed in towards Simon, who looked utterly paralyzed in terror. His younger sister did the only thing that was running through her mind at that moment. She pushed the older sibling away roughly, taking his place where the armored woman's fingers closed.

Iona felt the air squeezed from her lungs immediately as the massive armored digits clamped down upon her mercilessly. This time, as gravity shifted so suddenly, she did throw up. The terrified human was brought up before the demi's face who regarded her with a slightly raised eyebrow. It was as though she had found a fly in her soup or something similar, cocking her head to one side slightly. Being pinned between her fingers so the twenty year old human felt like an actual ant compared to the giantess. Had she possessed much breathing ability likely they would be as labored as possible.

The being didn't speak; indeed she had never spoken once through the entire ordeal. As Iona stared at her face she found herself wondering how something so very beautiful could be so utterly cruel. Iona herself was possessed of no small beauty, with her pale skin, her lightly freckled face and red hair she had been the object of many a villager's eye. Next to this demi though she felt ugly, inadequate, and utterly tiny. She struggled in vain against the massive digits, squealing and screaming bloody murder. She hadn't thought this through and it was only now that she realized that her death was practically assured now.

The giantess' features twisted back into that cruel smirk and Iona any remaining breath crushed from her lungs as the mighty digits pressed down upon her. Tears filled her eyes in pain as she screamed, her bones shattering and muscles being compressed. The pain became so great that Iona felt like death would be preferable at this point. The worst part about it all was the enjoyment her murderer seemed to get out of this. The glee in the monster's eyes, the curling of her lips as she crushed Iona between her fingers.

Mercifully Iona passed out before the end, unable to feel anything as the demi rubbed out the rest of her between her metallic digits.

Cold. Like ice had taken up residence in her very veins. Iona shivered as her eyes groggily tried to open, finding them blinded by a light above. She shifted, wincing as she did and finding herself suddenly feeling hot as opposed to cold. Then as she shifted again the cold returned. The woman's eyes opened fully as they adjusted to the light above, her head lolling to one side to avoid the brightness. Distantly she could make out blurry shapes as her body shifted between hot and cold over and over again.

She tried to sit up and cried out as pain flared through her body, destroying both the cold and the heat as she writhed on the ground. That had been one hell of a nightmare however she didn't know how it could cause her this much agony. Perhaps she'd simply slept in a rather awkward position? Even so the amount of pain she felt as she sat up and rubbed her eyes was unreasonable for just having slept poorly. The heat and cold returned to prickle across her skin, almost like the air temperature was in constant flux.

Her eyes fluttered open and were then widened to an almost comical degree when they beheld the world around her.

A white and black sprawl of mind warping marble architecture spiraled out before her, with stairs on the walls and ceiling and hallways that seemed to lead to nowhere. She was laying on a platform that was the intersecting point for three sets of stairs and one hallway, her sense of perception and grasp on her location relative to everything gradually slipping. This wasn't her home. This wasn't like anything Iona had ever seen. Her breathing picked up and only further increased when she noted with red faced shame that she was also completely naked.

"Hello!? Is anyone out there!? Where am I!?" She cried out, her eyes darting about for anything or anyone that looked remotely normal.

A dream. Yes, this must just be another dream. She was asleep in her bed and would wake up any second now. Iona closed her eyes and willed herself to just wake up. When she opened her eyes the scenery hadn't changed so she slapped herself and felt the sharp sting from that override the dull pain fading from her body. She had felt that, it hadn't been some illusion but it had been actual pain from a source she knew. No. No this couldn't be possible! Places like this didn't exist, she was asleep. She had to be asleep!

A low chuckle echoed through the room and she turned to the source, finding a man sitting upside down from a set of stairs nearby with his legs casually crossed. He was somewhat unremarkable really, dark skin, slim form, and a plain face. His hair was pulled back into cornrows tied into a ponytail. A rather drab grey robe hung from his form. His clothing and hair acted as if gravity was normal from where he sat, neither dangling down towards her. The man was regarding her with an amused smirk.

Iona backed up with a surprised yelp, nearly tumbling over the edge of the platform. She stared up at the man with wariness clear in her eyes. He placed his chin on his palm and raised his eyebrows at her reaction, his green eyes never once shifting from her form. Remembering her nudity she had enough of a mind to cover her breasts and cross her legs, earning another chuckle from him. He smirked once more to reveal a set of pearly white teeth, rolling his eyes at her decency. When he spoke his voice felt like fine velvet sliding into her ears.

"No need for that I think m'dear, I've already seen everything." He commented.

The red haired woman flushed scarlet at that, finding herself at a loss for words for the longest time. The first words out his mouth were lecherous remarks which begged the question... had he done more than look? Her question must have been written across her face for he laughed aloud at that.

"After looking around at where you are you are worried about me messing around while you were unconscious? Ha! You humans are funny." He remarked.

His voice might have been smooth but his laughter was grating and high pitched. She also figured that considering the circumstances he was kind of right. Iona swallowed hard as she struggled to find her voice, clearing her throat a couple of times before managing to speak. She stumbled awkwardly over her own words like a newborn, almost like her tongue was unused to the act of speaking.

"W-where am I?" She asked.

"Pretty boring question, I liked the other one better. Much less predictable. Ah well, I suppose you can only be so entertaining. Anyway, you are in... well I guess a sort of limbo might be a comparison you might grasp. Not where you were supposed to be going but not where you were before. Death is a bit... hazy for mortals to grasp I notice." He answered, almost like he was only half talking to her and half talking to himself.

Iona's heart froze at that one word. Death. The thing she had dismissed as a nightmare came flooding back to her. That horrible monster, the screaming of her victims, being squeezed until she couldn't feel anything. It had all actually happened? The realization hit her like a kick to the gut and she felt like she might very well vomit. Everyone... all of those people she had known and loved. Her mother, her father, her brother and sister were all dead? Just gone? It was unreal and it sent a wave of nausea as tears stung at her eyes.

"Y-you mean that... monster killed me?" She dared to ask.

"Yep! Pretty gruesome as well, smeared you all over her fingers. Nice try with the whole saving your brother thing but she pretty much ground him to paste as well. Ah well, you win some you lose some right?" The man answered, his tone rather cheerful.

Iona broke at that, the floodgates crashing down as she curled up and wept bitterly. Sobs of raw and pure loss were ripped from her lungs and she was certain she wailed long after her tears dried. Her mind was blank of anything but sorrow as she cried and cried, pausing only for deep gasps of air. She was drowning, drowning in sorrow and honestly that didn't seem too bad at the moment. The man made a displeased sound and stood, moving towards her and forcing her to get to her feet.

"Hey, hey! Stop crying! Please? I really don't like it when you mortals cry, it makes me all itchy. Uh, here, why don't we take a step into my office? ...Pretty sure it was... this way?" The man said, gently pushing the crying woman towards the nearest staircase.

Iona found a handkerchief being held out for her to take as they walked and she miserably used it to dab at her eyes as she was led along. Her legs felt fit to collapse under her as she cried, her heart feeling like it was being stabbed over and over. The man plastered on a fake smile as he opened one of the many doors along the path and gestured inside. Iona stared into it and screamed as a swarm of some massive insects buzzed about inside. Her host blinked at the reaction and looked inside before promptly slamming the door shut.

"Ah! Right, wrong door, heh heh. Sorry about that, I'm pretty sure it is uh, that one! Yes that sounds right." He said, pointing to the door directly across from the one with the large bugs.

He opened the door and inside was a bottomless blackness. Iona stared at the darkness within and stopped crying as she felt herself inexorably drawn towards it. Something in the back of her mind started whispering for her to step towards it and she could swear that there was something inside. It flickered about in the endless void beyond the door, formless and shapeless as it called to Iona. In her mind it sounded so familiar, like the call of her mother or her sister. She was about to cross the threshold when she felt her host jerk her back and slam the door shut.

"Also wrong, I should really put labels near these things. Let's see... let's try this one." He said helping Iona to her feet and heading towards the door at the end of the hall.

Iona jerked her hand back. "Wait! Where are you taking me? Who are you?" She demanded, sniffling slightly.

The man looked at her and cocked his head ever so. "My office of course, need to make these things official after all. At least, I think so. As for who I am, well, who do you think?"

"A madman?" She replied without thinking, immediately fearful she might offend him.

He pointed towards her and let out a hissing breath from behind a beaming smile. "Madman! No... Ah. Okay, okay that's fine. What is something you associate with madmen? What are they?" He questioned, rolling his hand to try and gesture for a quick response.

Iona went with an obvious answer. "Insane? Crazy?"

He held up a hand. "Okay, still focusing on the mad aspect. That's fine, that's fine! The word I'm looking for rhymes with neurotic. Come on, what rhymes with neurotic."

After waking up in a mad house, learning everyone she had ever loved was dead, and nearly being pulled into a dark abyss Iona had certainly not expected to have a quiz with the stranger she had woken up to. He was rolling his hands and smiling encouragingly, obviously trying to get a good answer out of her. Iona thought for a few moments obligingly, sticking her tongue in her cheek. Growing up in her simple village had limited her vocabulary so she didn't even really know what neurotic meant.

"Umm... ahhh..." She said, trying hard to come up with something though clearly it wasn't fast enough.

"OK, the word I was looking for was Chaotic! Chaos! You know, like God of Chaos, Yorik? So you aren't the cleverest but that's fine! I can work with not clever! We can make that work." He said, leading her along again while muttering under his breath.

Iona limply followed him as her eyes must have widened to a comical degree. Yorik was the God of Tricksters, Mischief and Chaos. Widely regarded as a pretty powerful and unpredictable god and was worshipped quite frequently, or invoked as a curse. So she had called a god a madman. Iona half expected him to realize that insult and strike her dead at any moment. The fact that said god was leading her along gently still hadn't really hit home just yet. He... he was a god. Like a real god. And he was talking to her. Some dead girl from a village in the middle of nowhere.

Yorik let out a victorious cry as he opened the next door and revealed a tiny office with a nice desk and two chairs. A mess of parchments were all over the floor and the desk and really the entire place was a mess. He carefully led her inside and sat her down in the chair in front of the desk before sitting down behind it primly. She remembered her nudity as he stared at her and covered herself again. He smacked a hand against his forehead and let out a slight sigh at the sight.

"Ah, right, forgot. You mortals are really uptight about the nudity thing." He said.

He waved a hand and the next thing Iona knew her body was concealed in clothing. She gasped and ran her hands over the smooth fabric of a rather rich crimson robe, her fingers tingling from the foreign fabric. Her toes curled around a strap and her feet were resting in sandals crafted from supple and cured leather. Gemstones studded the straps of her sandals and gold trimmed at her red robes. Iona looked at the clothing; in utter disbelief the rich attire was adorning her body. Her eyes shifted back towards Yorik, who was balancing his quill upon his nose.

"Y-you really are a god?" She stuttered out.

He stopped his playing and smirked at her. "The genuine article I assure you! Not sure one can fake godhood exactly."

Iona swallowed hard, pushing aside the raw wound of her sorrow to focus on the situation at hand. "What do you want from me?"

Yorik put his feet up on the desk and pointed at her. "Ah, the real question is, what do you want from me?" He said, sounding rather like a sleazy merchant.

"I- what?" She asked in confusion.

"You don't want to die do you? Well... technically you are already dead but I can make it so you aren't dead!" He stated.

Iona blinked at the rather blunt offer, almost not believing it at first. It wasn't everyday one was killed by a demi only for a god to swoop in and offer to return you to life. Just thinking about that demi, how she had so easily slaughtered everyone in the village like it had been some kind of game... it brought waves of sadness but also rage. Her fists curled into the fabric of her new clothing, realizing something and turning her gaze back to Yorik, her eyes possessing a slight glimmer of hope.

"What about my family? Could you bring them back as well? The people that monster killed in the village?" She asked.

Yorik's expression turned to a frown. "Ah... no. I already technically bent a few divine rules plucking you from the aether. I also did that while you were in transit. Most of the souls of those that demi killed are already where they are supposed to be. So getting them back would be something outside of my power."

Iona's shoulders slumped and the hope in her eyes flickered and died. They were gone forever then. Every single person she had known was dead and gone, all at the whims of a cruel demi. Tears stung at her eyes once more as she pondered the worth of even being resurrected. There was nothing left for her in that world. No loved ones, no friends, it almost seemed pointless to just return. There was also another point.

"Why would I want to go back? We humans are just toys for the demi to abuse, enslave, or kill. I'd just wind up dead again probably." She said, a sob tearing itself from her.

Yorik snapped a finger a couple of times. "Hey! Hey! No more crying. Anyway, what if I told you I could make you a demi?"

Iona's gaze jerked back to Yorik, who was regarding her with a smirk. Her, a demi? The demi were considered at the top of the food chain in the world order. A step below the gods as far as the average human was concerned. Most civilized human lands owed vassalage to certain demi; her village had paid tribute to a lord who in turn paid tribute to a demi by the name of Ophelia Stormcaller. The idea of becoming one of these near godlike creatures was almost laughable but Yorik seemed to be completely genuine with his offer.

Of course that begged an important question. "Why me?" Iona asked.

Yorik shrugged casually. "I like helping out the little guy, or gal in this case. Honestly I didn't expect you to try and save your brother by leaping into harm's way. It was stupid, but also crazy. I like a little crazy. Besides, I find the current order of the world utterly dull. It's just so... predictable. Demi are big and powerful and thus can cow the tiny and weak humans. Boring! I think making a human into a demi would shake things up!"

The chaotic deity searched around his desk for a moment, grumbling about parchments until he found what he was looking for and slid it across the table with an inkwell and quill. Iona blinked, not exactly understanding how to read but finding the words projecting into her head as she read them. Considering what she had seen so far she supposed that a parchment that read the words off into her mind was not exactly the strangest.

"The undersigned does hereby offer their soul as property to Yorik, God of Chaos, Father of Tricksters, and Lord of Mischief. In so doing the undersigned waives any rights to their soul to the aforementioned, recognizing it as divine legal right that he possess it upon the death of the undersigned. The undersigned also agrees to the following conditions.

-The undersigned will not destroy the interests of Yorik upon the mortal plane, via means direct or indirect either through action or inaction.

-The undersigned will be obligated to obey a single request made of her by Yorik at any time or form of his choosing. These requests must invoke this contract before being made. In the event of conflict between the request and conditions of the contract, the request takes precedence. Once the request is made this condition will be nulled.

-The undersigned will not seek harm to Yorik himself via means direct or indirect, either through actions or inactions.

The act of signing will confer the identity of 'demi' upon the signer for the remainder of her life. Yorik hereby will grant a fraction of divine essence to the undersigned to facilitate this change to the undersigned's mortal soul. This fraction cannot be revoked by any means by Yorik until the undersigned's demise. This contract will be enforced by the laws of the gods and the universe to ensure both Yorik and the undersigned keep to the terms of the contract. Upon the death of either Yorik or the undersigned the contract will be rendered null.

X___________________________"

Iona frowned as she pondered the contract carefully. The request one was the bit she focused on the most as it seemed a bit of a blank check for Yorik. Then again she supposed making her a demi without making any requirements for her would be rather too altruistic. It was hard to get a read on what kind of person Yorik was though. He didn't seem evil at least though being a god of chaos she supposed good and evil were just words to him really. Unpredictable perhaps which made giving him a blank check rather... dangerous.

She was also officially signing her soul away to him. It was a life changing contract that she was signing. Of course being a demi meant she would be on equal grounds with that monster that had destroyed her village. Her fingers balled into fists, hatred flaring through her as she remembered the face of that demi. She burned it into her mind and turned her gaze up towards Yorik as she picked up the quill.

"I'll sign, but I'm not going to be a monster like the other demi. I won't treat humans like insects and I will hunt down that demi that killed everyone in my village and make her pay." She said, her tone firm for the first time since meeting Yorik.

The god smirked enigmatically. "Of course. You are free to pursue your own agenda until I need to make my request of you. Honestly I'd rather see how you work before making it of you anyway."

Iona nodded and dipped the quill in ink. She didn't know how to write but she suspected just dripping the ink on the place where she was to sign would convey the message. Sure enough the inkblots shifted and formed the symbols that made up her name and the contract dissolved before her very eyes. She placed the quill back down and took a deep breath. She didn't feel any different at the moment as she looked at herself. Her eyes turned to Yorik who offered her a wide beaming smile.

"There we have it then! Congratulations, demi, I look forward to watching how you choose to use your newfound power. I wonder if you will keep to your oath, or simply revel in your power. I suppose only time will tell. In any event I bid you good luck in your travels, m'dear. Perhaps when you find the demi that destroyed your home we will speak again." He stated.

A sharp pain was felt upon the hand that had held the quill and Iona's eyes widened as she noted ink was crawling up her skin. It formed into a symbol upon her hand, one of an eight pointed star, and she screamed as it branded itself into her flesh. The world started spinning and it felt like her very soul was being flayed. She was not ashamed to admit that she screamed. The scream echoed through her mind as her last sight before the world went dark was the smiling god, though this time his smile seemed far more sinister. A loud and cackling laughter followed her into the darkness until finally, all was quiet.

The first sensation Iona felt coming back into the world of the living was pain. Immediately she cried out, curling up upon herself and clutching her right hand to her chest. Her eyes shot open wide as the burning lancing agony spread like a wildfire from her right hand. Tears stung at her eyes, blurring her vision. It felt like the skin of her hand was about to split open. Her left hand clawed at the flesh, as though tearing it off might alleviate her pain. It was in this state of indescribable agony that it came flooding back.

The god, the contract, the pain, and that inhuman laughter. It seemed that the pain had followed her wherever she was now. As the moments rolled by however the pain cooled and started to numb into a dull throb. Before long it was replaced by an almost soothing erotic sensation that spread forth from her hand and washed over her whole body. The fire was soon gone completely and only the soothing cold was left. Her breathing slowly reoriented itself and she was left curled upon the ground, the fingers of her right hand twitching.

Slowly, very slowly she left her fetal position, her fingers digging into the cool ground. She grabbed fistfuls of the soil and stared at the dark earth as it dirtied the digits. It was real earth. Real ground. She was back. A dry, breathless chuckle left her lips as she felt an odd swirling cocktail of emotions roiling in her belly. Somewhere between disbelief and rapturous joy. She was alive. Yorik had really restored her to life.

Releasing her hold on the soil Iona rolled onto her back, staring up at a beautiful blue sky. The clouds drifted overhead and shrouded the sun, casting shade upon the woman. She lifted her right hand up in the air, staring at the eight pointed star that was branded onto the back of her hand. As she looked at it closely she could swear it was actually shifting and moving, though when she blinked it stopped. The proof of her contract with a god. She let her hand fall back onto the ground and took in a deep breath, just content exist for the moment.

From her breath she inhaled the smell of something... smoke. Ash. ...Blood.

Immediately Iona sat up, her body protesting the sudden motion. Her eyes beheld a sight that stabbed at her heart and sent her back to the moments leading up to her death. A broken and shattered corpse was all that remained of the village, smoke rising from some of the buildings while others were just splintered and flattened. Great impressions in the earth showed where the demi had stepped, most of which were filled with flattened remains. Massive gouges in the earth were the signs of the sweepings of the sword that had extinguished so many lives.

Her sitting up also showed her that Yorik had indeed kept up another part of the bargain as she could see for miles over the high tree line just from sitting up.

She made the mistake of standing and was immediately struck by a wave of vertigo. Her legs wobbled as she looked down. The clothes the God of Chaos had gifted her with were still upon her body, a bit dirty from lying on the ground. She was just... SO tall! Iona felt like she was going to throw up from being so big, her head spinning. She... she needed to sit down. The combination of looking upon her ruined home, being a demi, and staring around from so great a height was a bit too much.

As she plopped back down on the ground she landed on the tree line, her weight immediately snapping even the oldest and tallest of the trees. Iona felt the snapping and creaking and squeaked as she stood back up immediately, viewing the destruction she had caused just by sitting down. She stumbled back towards the village and tripped, crying out as she landed flat on her back in the middle of the already ruined village. Her back smashed the splintered remains of a few houses, a loud boom sending a flock of birds flying up into the air.

The newborn demi sat up and stared at the further destruction she caused. She recognized the location of one of the buildings she had landed upon, it was her own home. Growing up it had seemed rather big but now had it still been standing she could probably have torn it from the ground and held it in her hand. Upon close inspection she noted two prominent blood smears beneath the ruined home. Tears stung at her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Her mother and sister had been inside the house when that monster had arrived. She remembered watching the cruel demi smash the house under her boot heel, crushing it like it had been nothing. Looking at it from what the evil woman's perspective had been she supposed it had been nothing.

She cut off her tears. No. She wasn't going to cry. Not anymore. She had cried enough in the realm of Yorik. She sniffled and choked back her sorrow, trying to stand once more. Ruined buildings crunched under her sandals as she stood, grinding the ruins further into the ground. She winced. If she was going to be like this for the rest of her life she would have to be careful. In this state she might accidently squish someone without being attentive. Carelessness could quite literally be deadly for plenty of innocent people.

The steps she took to balance herself were clumsy and plodding, her knees bending slightly to try and keep from losing her balance again. Iona closed her eyes and took deep breaths. After a few moments she dared to look down again, vertigo giving her double vision once again. Her legs started wobbling again and she felt nauseous staring down at the ground so far below. Everything she had once thought of as massive was now so small. Going from a human to a demi apparently took a bit of doing.

After a bit of trial and error Iona managed to straighten her knees out and remain standing. Staring out into the distance was also a poor idea as that was just even more disorienting. Her human mind was telling her that she was staring out from the top of some great structure. She lifted her dirty hands before her face, telling herself this was natural. This was her body and she was really this big. It took a few deep breaths but at least now she didn't feel like she was about to throw up.

Now that she had reoriented herself the question was now... what next? As far as she could tell the armored woman had left no tracks, none of the trees looked overly destroyed in a certain path she could track except for the direction she had come from. It was as though she had just vanished into thin air after destroying her village. She had no idea who her murderer was or even where she might have gone. The only idea she had for finding her was to trace the steps back to the main road that was in the direction the evil creature had come from. After that... maybe seeking out another demi?

The only demi she knew by name was Ophelia Stormcaller. She had never met the demi obviously being a lowly human peasant, or perhaps she had. Perhaps she had been the armored woman, just killing the lowly humans because she was bored. Even if she wasn't the cruel armored demi she might know where to find her. As a human she would have been beneath the demi's notice most likely but as a fellow demi she would have to take notice of her. Of course she didn't know where to find Lady Stormcaller but someone in the city could probably direct her.

It didn't seem right to just leave the village behind and letting the carrion birds pick at the remains of the people she had known however. So before she set out she set to work covering up as many of the bloodstains as she could find, lifting tons of dirt with ease and filling the footprints. Tears nearly rose in her eyes as she located the place where her brother had likely been crushed. She choked them back, a couple of dry sobs still managing to rip themselves from her throat. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't cry.

As she buried the rubble another sob was torn from her lips, followed by another. She wouldn't cry. She buried her home, she buried the inn, and she buried her neighbor's home. She wouldn't cry. She filled up more of the boot prints, she poured dark soil upon the village hall, and she patted down the covers with her grimy fingers. She wouldn't cry. Every single sign of the cruel demi's passing was wiped from existence, every bloodstain, every ruin, every shattered life she hard carelessly trampled with glee in her eyes.

She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't cry. She... She wouldn't...

The corners of her vision grew blurry as tears rolled down her cheeks once more. She sobbed and filled the air with wails of loss, the pitiable sounds heard for miles around. She watered the soil with her salty tears, mourning the aching hole in her heart. Iona pounded at the ground as she cried; staring down at the barren field she had created. Her long red hair framed the corners of her vision, hanging like a shroud around her face. She cried. She cried until she had no more tears left to shed for her lost friends and family, a funeral only she was present to observe.

It hurt, it hurt in a way the brand on her hand could never hurt her. It hurt worse than when she had first learned everyone was dead. Then she had possessed no visual. Then she had not buried every dead villager in tons of earth. The hurt burned itself deep into her heart. It was a terrible hurt. However it was a hurt she needed to feel. She needed to feel this stabbing at her heart. It was something she needed to purge from herself.

After a long while she stood and wiped her eyes, her beautiful face marred red and puffy from her sorrow. She swallowed her sobs, cutting them off dead in her throat. The newborn demi stared towards the dirt road leading out from where the village once stood. She brushed the dirt from her robes and focused upon her goal. Finding Ophelia Stormcaller. Finding the cruel demi that had killed her friends and family. Killing her. With this goal firmly in her mind Iona took the first step towards her new life.

________________________________________________________________________

...Easier said than done, Iona thought as she winced from picking yet another splinter from her foot. Turned out stepping her way through trees in sandals was not a very good idea. Walking to the main road with countless splinters in her feet had certainly not been pleasant, but at the very least she had found it. The road was very wide and sturdy, likely created if a demi might wish to walk upon it. So she wouldn't be getting anymore splinters at the very least.

"Ah! Fuck!"

Iona cursed loudly, her eyes watering as she plucked another splinter from between her toes. She supposed it was better than being barefoot but Yorik could have at least given her something that would protect her feet better. She was currently sitting upon the wide road, her sandals discarded to the side as she examined her feet for more splinters. It hadn't taken very long for her to reach the main road, about half an hour, at roughly five hundred feet tall long journeys for humans became much faster.

She sighed as she pulled the last splinter free, flexing and curling her toes in the cool air. So her first lesson as a demi was that walking through trees in her sandals was a bad idea. Iona brushed at the bottoms of her feet for a few moments longer before strapping her sandals back on and standing. The massive woman stood and stretched, looking up both ways of the road. It stretched on for as far as she could see in any direction. She couldn't see any signs of civilization quite yet and she realized that she actually had no idea which was along the road the city was.

"Great start Iona, don't even know which way to go." She muttered under her breath.

With either direction sounding good to her the demi took the path south, careful to keep from straying from the road. The going was rather dull and boring but she was making some good progress at least. Well... assuming the city was in this direction. Iona was surprised at how durable the road was but then she supposed it being made for demi was not a real shocker. Demi made the rules, they made the laws, and they ruled the world. Before the attack her only source of information regarding the demi had been when her father had once described a demi he had seen when he visited the city for tribute, an armored woman who had been executing 'criminals'. As in those that hadn't bowed or groveled low enough to her for her tastes. They didn't need a reason to be cruel.

What might other demi think of her being born human? Then again none of the legends spoke of how demi became as they were. Maybe they had all once been human. Iona couldn't quite wrap her head around how anyone that had been human or subjected to the whims of demi could become monsters like them. Iona wasn't going to be like that. She wasn't going to terrorize people just because she could.

In the distance she glimpsed the sight of something that actually lifted her spirits a little; a caravan. A line of wagons were travelling the road not too far away, plodding in her direction. Obviously they noticed her as well for she saw people scurrying about and noted the wagons lurching to a halt. Some looked like they were moving towards the tree line, trying to make a break for it. Others tried to move the wagons from her path. Iona frowned as she approached, raising a hand in a gesture of peace.

Soon enough she stood before the wagons and found the caravan master was on his knees with quite a few others. Apparently the hearing of the demi was also rather advanced as she could hear the voice of the caravan master, not perfectly but well enough. "Oh great demi, I beg mercy! We were not aware one of your kind would be passing along the road!"

Iona squatted down, pushing her robe back a bit. She had to admit having someone bow to her of all people felt... strange. She had grown up no one special. Attractive maybe but no one important. Having someone who was probably wealthy and powerful in his own right bow to her was odd. There was a part of her that felt a swell in her chest, an emotion that she couldn't quite identify though it was not unpleasant all together. Of course that meant responding to the blatant groveling was going to be... awkward. Maybe he knew how to get to the city.

"Uh... greetings. I'm hoping you can help me. Which way is Esoric?" She asked, brushing some hair from her eyes.

The merchant dared look up and blinked at her in disbelief. "E-Esoric? Oh! W-well it is in the direction we are travelling, your divine eminence!"

Iona frowned and furrowed her brows in irritation; of course she had picked the wrong way. Unfortunately it appeared her change in expression was regarded with panic among those of the caravan. An irritated demi was typically not healthy for a human to encounter. It was in that moment where a young woman of Iona's age burst forth from the trees where many had hidden, her dark hair trailing out behind her. She knelt before the curtain of Iona's dirty crimson robes, earning a cry from the caravan master further back.

"Daughter!"

"Please, demi, please don't kill my father for displeasing you! I beg of you! Please have mercy towards him!" She begged, tears in her eyes as she started kissing at the dirtied fabric.

Well... this was not what she had expected. It was also a huge misunderstanding. Iona waved her hands in front of her face. "What? No, no, I'm not killing anyone!"

"I-If it is enslavement you prefer we w-won't resist. Thank you for your mercy! Oh, thank you!" The young woman said, her sentiments echoed by many of the members of the caravan.

Iona felt her heart start racing at this gross misunderstanding. "No! I'm not enslaving anyone either! I just wanted to know the way to the city! Thank you for telling me I was going the wrong way." She said hurriedly, more than a little nervous that the skittish people were going to take that the wrong way as well.

The humans below fell silent and a number looked almost disbelieving. Iona figured it was probably a very good idea to beat a hasty retreat before another misunderstanding reared its ugly head. With an awkward parting wave the young demi stood to her full height and turned on her heel sharply to head in the right direction. So focused was she upon her fleeing from the caravan that she was unaware of what the sudden movement might do. As well as the consequences it might have to those below.

The unfortunate daughter that had so pleaded with Iona was caught upon the robe still and was sent flying against one of the forest trees with an audible crack. The wind kicked up by her robe fluttering knocked more than a few people on their backs, sending a few unfortunate's flying off their feet and smashing into trees or wagons. A few trees got caught upon her robes though were effortlessly tugged free, causing them to collapse on those few still hiding within the forest. Two were pulped beneath the mass of the trees as they fell and another ended up with his leg crushed.

The horses were all either knocked over or were frightened, those scared once running towards the tree line and causing extreme damage the wagons. More than one of the people that had been thrown off their feet was crushed under horse hooves or wagon wheels. Goods flew from the wagons in a loud clatter, some of the wagons ending up on their sides. In the wake of Iona's simple quick turning motion over six people were dead and many more were injured, to say nothing of damage done to the merchandise and wagons.

Of course, by that point Iona was walking well away from the caravan and was out of hearing range, still a little irritated that she had gone in the wrong direction. Also unnerving had been the fear she had been received with. She supposed that was going to be a standard meeting with most humans unfortunately, just another drawback to her state. Ah well, she supposed she had dispelled that fear for those people at the caravan at least. Iona walked away from her unknowing destruction and carnage with a swelling warm feeling in her heart, hoping she could dispel the fears of others towards her in a similar manner.

The journey to Esoric was fairly uneventful really after Iona's initial encounter with the caravan. The traffic along the road was non-existent for the day and a half she traveled, though it was displaying a rather big issue. Namely how utterly ravenous she was. When she had been brought back to life she hadn't felt hungry or thirsty but now, having gone without food for a good amount of time she was feeling more than a little sluggish. Her stomach growled frequently and she felt like she might just fall over.

She was dragging her feet along the road, wincing at every growl she heard from her empty stomach. Finding something to drink hadn't been overly difficult; a lake upon the path had provided plenty of fresh looking water yesterday. Iona believed she had likely gotten some fish with her long greedy gulps and by the time she had finished the lake was halfway gone. Of course getting to the lake had involved splinters in her feet again. All in all by the time she saw Esoric in the distance as the forest ended she felt so relieved.

As she was closing in on the city the new demi had made very certain to start watching her steps much more carefully. The human traffic here was likely to be much heavier after all. The outer lands from the city were mostly mills and farms, and as long as she kept to the road she avoided causing damage. The humans around the area were careful to give her a very wide berth, none daring to go near the road. In the distance she heard bells ringing in the city from the top of the tallest tower. A warning perhaps for her coming?

The traffic near the city immediately dispersed as she approached and she noted upon the battlements that reached up to a little above her ankle there was a gathering. At first Iona feared it was soldiers but when she came closer she noted it was some well-dressed, balding, and plump little man. She assumed this was the lord of the city. The same one who had accepted tributes from her village. She doubted he even knew of the destruction of her home, something that grated at the back of her mind.

She stopped near the battlements, figuring that getting on her knees might make this whole thing a little easier. The red haired demi slowly lowered herself down, watching her movements carefully. Despite this her foot still managed to press into a storehouse, sending the building collapsing rather easily. Iona's eyes widened as she felt a flush crossing her face, hoping to every god there was that no one had been inside of that building. She swallowed and looked down at the lord, noting an expression of dread upon his face.

"Ah! Sorry about that, sorry. My foot slipped a little." She apologized, bowing her head slightly.

The lord and his entourage seemed a bit bewildered by her apologies. Demi weren't ones to apologize for destroying the creations of man after all. The lord cleared his throat as he bowed to Iona. "Oh mighty demi, we welcome you to Esoric! I am Lord Eddlebrek Merisk, overseer of Esoric by the grace of her Divine Ladyship Ophelia Stormcaller. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?" He asked.

Iona smiled tiredly. "A pleasure to meet you, your lordship. I am Iona of..." She bit her lip, figuring that she couldn't just say she was from one of his villages.

"Iona of the West. I seek nothing more than information, a place to rest my head, and a solid meal." She said, keeping her tone as respectful as possible.

The lord conferred with his advisors a fair bit for this reason or that. Her hearing was good but their voices were still quite tiny so even she couldn't hear their whisperings. Her eyes searched around and noted a few people were standing about watching while some others were hurrying towards their homes. The city from her perspective looked like some big and elaborate playset she had heard the wealthy girls played with. With little people scurrying around, going about their lives. Though in this case there was more hiding and gawking than life living.

The lord spoke again, his gaze still wary. "You are of course welcome to use the lands around Esoric as you see fit, the presence of a demi is always a good omen. As for food, we can turn out the city prisons if that would please you."

It took Iona a moment to get what he meant by turning out the city prisons. Needless to say when understanding dawned upon her disgust and horror were prominent emotions upon her face. Just thinking of eating another person... it reminded her of what that monster had done to so many people. Just tipped them over her mouth and swallowed them down with a look of cruel satisfaction. She had no desire to eat anyone, even if they were a criminal! People... people weren't food!

"I don't eat people! Don't you have anything less... gruesome? Like vegetables or maybe livestock meats?" She said, unable to keep the disgust from her tone.

That certainly raised a brow from the lord and pretty much everyone around him. He recovered quickly enough and bowed hurriedly. "Of course, Lady Iona, I believe we can arrange for such offerings. You also said you were looking for information?"

Iona felt relief wash over her. "Thank you, my lord. Yes, I would like to know where I can find Ophelia Stormcaller." After a moment of thought. "Also, did you happen to see a demi in black armor in this area recently?"

Lord Eddlebrek pointed to the north east. "There lies a distant range of mountains in that direction. Follow the road out of the city and to the mountains and you will find Lady Stormcaller's holdings. I apologize as well but I have not heard of any demi by that description nearby. You are the first in a month who has appeared before us."

Well, it had been a longshot but at least she knew where to find Ophelia. If the Eddlebrek couldn't tell her where to find the demi that destroyed her village then perhaps Lady Ophelia could. She was a fellow demi after all. Not that Iona supposed she was acting very demi-like. She bowed her head in thanks to the lord and smiled as she slowly stood. She straightened her dirtied robes and looked about for a good patch of land around the city where she could call hers for a little while. Her straightening sent large clumps of dirt and rock pelting the area around her, one particular large rock crashing into a nearby stable. She looked down into the large hole she made and noted that thankfully there was no carnage, though the horses were whining and panicking.

"Thank you again, Lord Eddlebrek. Sorry again about the damages. I can try and help fix them if you like as repayment for the help." Iona offered, figuring it was only polite to clean up her mess.

The lord gave her an utterly bewildered look, one shared by many. "I-I am certain I and my people would appreciate any assistance you might deem to bestow upon us." He said, offering another low bow to the powerful creature.

Iona was pleased by that. Finally a chance to do something a little bit useful, even if her own screw up had caused it to be necessary. Her hands weren't exactly the steadiest but how bad could that make thing really? She knelt back down near the ruined warehouse and figured if she just could stack things up again things might go a lot smoother and easier on the proper repairs. This time she was much more careful in kneeling down, watching where her feet went to avoid and people or houses. No easy task when they were all over the place.

It started out rather well as she managed to get the walls standing shakily up again. Really it was like building a tiny house out of twigs. She stuck her tongue in her cheek as she started laying down the foundation for the roof, shifting unconsciously. The action caused her sandal to scrape against the ground and shift quite a bit of dirt straight into a well. Unaware of the devastation of a part of the water supply she kept working on the warehouse. She hummed slightly as she worked, placing each section down with painstaking effort.

The woman let out a sharp exhale once it looked mostly done, which proved to be the downfall of the structure. The gale of air that escaped her lips knocked the unsteady and sloppy construction over easily, sending the thing toppling. She cursed loudly and slammed one of her hands into the ground nearby in frustration. Her hand smashed into another stable, splintering the building nearly instantly and turning the horses within into red smears. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at her bloody hand. Sheepishly she looked through the rubble for a sign of having killed another person, feeling relief at only seeing dead horses. It still was pretty bad but at least she hadn't killed someone.

"Ah... maybe I'll just leave you all to this. I'll just... go sit over there." Iona said, hurriedly getting to her feet.

Her quick motions sent her robe smashing into several buildings and her sandals kicked up more dirt, burying several people. She brushed herself off and headed away from the city proper to a nice patch of open ground down the road. The giantess was flushed scarlet in embarrassment, focused only on getting out of the way of people. Her size made it much too easy for her to cause harm to humans or human structures. She supposed, in a way, she could see why demi could be seen as cruel. Perhaps some just didn't bother watching their step and uncaringly trampled people. At this angle, despite her misgivings, she could see how that might be an easier way of conducting oneself.

Regardless the demi sat herself down far enough away from most humans and sighed as she laid out on her back in a field. What she didn't hear or see in her hurry was a pair of humans, man and woman, giggling to each other in the field. The two didn't even get out a shriek before Iona's rump settled down upon the land they had been sitting on. The hue of the thick robe would likely hide the bloodstains for quite some time. Blissfully unaware of the young lives she snuffed out the young woman stared up at the clouds.

It was not overly long after she had taken her patch of ground before she noted a few carts were rolling closer to her, bearing meats and vegetables that could feed an entire village. The drivers removed the horses from the carts and stepped away themselves, allowing her to pick up each cart at her leisure. Really the amount didn't look like much of a meal from her perspective but she smiled gratefully at the drivers before taking up the first cart. Its load of vegetables rustled slightly as she tipped the cart over her lips.

She barely bothered to chew and swallowed most of it down whole, already reaching for the next cart. The carts were so small, like little fragile toys. She feared that if she was too rough in her handling the objects might splinter in her fingers. Regardless she devoured the contents of all ten, taking the edge off of her hunger at the very least. The drivers watched on with a mixture of dread and awe. After all... what if she decided the food she had just eaten wasn't enough for her?

Iona patted her stomach, feeling better than she had for the past day and a half. "Thanks for that. Tell Lord Eddlebrek thank you for me as well, won't you?"

The bewildered drivers bowed and took off back to the city, leaving her to stare up at the sky once more. So food was another issue as a demi she would need to find a way to address. Eating that much had only filled her up so much. Maybe that was another reason the demi ate humans, they were numerous and multiplied reliably. The close comparison to livestock did not sit well with Iona, being formerly of the human race herself. She supposed she would find more than just answers about her killer from Lady Stormcaller tomorrow.

________________________________________________________________________

Upon the dawning of the next day Iona was gone from the city and heading down the road again, no doubt to the great relief of the city of Esoric. She was hungry again and a tad thirsty but at the very least she was heading in the right direction. The mountains stretched up upon the horizon and even from the great distance between her and they she could feel how much they dwarfed even her. It made sense a demi might dwell there she supposed, treading carefully upon the road just in case there might be more humans this way.

She had no illusions about her appearance. Her clothes were dirty and she herself did not look much better. Her red hair was a wild and tangled mess, no doubt possessing a few tiny branches within the strands. The new demi had no idea how anyone could actually enjoy being this massive. What if a rainstorm were to hit? It wasn't like a demi could just duck under a tree or head into any old cave. Not only that but her nerves had been wracked with trying to just avoid crushing some poor person underfoot, no easy task.

As the dirty and ragged demi approached the mountains she noted a pair of demi moving towards her, armed with massive spears and armored in bronze. Armored sandals adorned their feet and their helmets bore some odd red crest. Iona halted as they approached; raising a hand in a gesture she hoped would be associated with peace. She idly wondered just how they had managed to acquire their arms and armor, certainly no human smith could craft such massive items and the amount of materials needed to make them were likely not insignificant.

The armored demi stopped before her, one stepping forward and removing her helm to display her short black hair and well sculpted face. She was well muscled and her flesh was bronzed by long days under the sun's light. Her brown eyes peered at her in curiosity but appeared warm enough. The oddest thing about her though was the pair of triangular ears on either side of her head. Iona cocked her head slightly at the sight, having never seen anything like them. The way she moved seemed to defy most conventions, possessing a grace and fluidity than seemed unreal when wearing such armor. The demi offered a slight nod to Iona.

"Hail, sister, what brings you to the Storm Mountains?" She inquired.

Iona cleared her throat. "I seek to meet with Ophelia Stormcaller."

"I see. Might I inquire as to where you are travelling from? Celestia perhaps? Osira?" She asked.

Iona pondered this question for a long moment. She intended to keep her former life to herself, who knew if being made demi from human origins was common or not? The armored warriors might not respond well to her in that event. Given that Iona lacked armor and weapons and combat experience she figured maybe it was best to play stupid. Probably was her best bet in this situation.

"I-I am from the west. I just... woke up a couple of days ago dressed like this and followed the road. The little people in the city directed me here." Iona lied.

The armored woman's face adopted and expression of naked concern. "A newly fallen? Ah, my apologies sister, this must all be overwhelming for you. May I see your hands please?" She requested, her tone becoming much gentler.

Iona obliged and the woman looked a bit perplexed. It was then that the red haired woman noticed a mark upon the other woman's bare right hand as well. A sword and axe crossing, the accepted symbol of the God of War Theros. Maybe demi were born from humans after all if she had a similar mark upon her hand. The young woman felt slightly hopeful, as it meant she could be fully honest.

"The eight pointed star... I have never seen a demi fallen that possesses the mark of Yorrik. We should certainly get you inside to see Lady Stormcaller. Perhaps a bath, a meal, and a set of clean clothes before that. I must say you are fortunate, most freshly fallen are nude." The woman said.

Iona didn't have time to question what the woman meant by inside she was already being gently pulled along by the hand by the nice armored woman. Her companion took her spear and helmet and fell in step behind wordlessly. So far she wasn't seeing much in the way of monstrosity or cruelty so that was rather nice. They started making their way back towards the mountains and it was now that she was truly able to grasp the enormity of them. The spikes of earth stretched up for as far as her eyes could see, no doubt to a human they would look even larger. Iona hadn't known things could become so massive naturally.

She was jerked from her awe by a question. "Do you have a name yet, sister?"

Iona thought quickly. "Um, Iona."

"Any particular reason?"

"I-I heard one of the little people call another by it and liked the name."

The woman snorted and chuckled a bit. "The little people are called humans; they are not really people like you or me. Snacks maybe, or slaves but certainly not people. We have a few inside scurrying about, don't worry about squishing them. There are always more where they come from. Anyway, pleased to meet you Iona, I am Lyssia."

Iona felt her blood freeze at the casual dismissal of humans being people. Lyssia had seemed pretty courteous and still came off as somewhat kind, however the way she could just dismiss humans reminded her of just what was leading her along by the hand. No doubt countless people had met their ends under Lyssia's sandals or within her belly. The slightly taller demi was still a murderer like the stories claimed. A few days ago Iona had been one of those humans she so casually dismissed as mere lesser creatures.

"The pe- humans at the city were nice and helpful." She said.

"Probably because they were rightly afraid of you. They are tiny, and they get underfoot, and they multiply like crazy. Trust me, no reason to shed a tear over squishing one or two or a dozen. More where they came from." Lyssia said with a casual shrug.

Iona promptly shut her mouth at that, holding back her indignant anger. It was true they got underfoot but that didn't just give demi the right to just squish whatever they pleased. They were people with families and dreams and hopes. She swallowed her protests and allowed herself to be led along the widening road into the mountains. There were no other demi along the path and the world seemed like it was growing larger to accommodate their size. It actually made her feel a bit normal to be dwarfed by the mountains, like she wasn't some great creature most humans feared.

The road led through the mountains and towards the largest mountain of all, a gateway carved into the mouth of it to welcome the demi inside. Iona swallowed as she was led inside and found herself standing in a massive entry hall. Statues of various womanly figures and columns were arrayed through the beautifully carved space, more armored warriors standing guard here or there. Other demi loitered here as well, though some didn't look overly human. Indeed some possessed quirks like Lyssia. One woman had four arms and exotic almond shaped eyes, another had her legs replaced by that of a serpent's tail, and still another possessed green skin that looked like plant roots had burrowed under her skin.

They were also all women, Iona noted. Not a single demi looked to be male in anyway and she hadn't ever heard of male demi. The former human found that to be a tad odd though not nearly as odd as the fact a place like this existed. The ceiling was at least three times her size in height and the room could probably hold over a hundred demi comfortably. A few of the women peered at her as she was escorted over the smooth floor of the entry hall, most curious. It was then that Iona noted a few humans.

The little people scurried around the entry hall, some staying near one demi or another while others moved about to carry out this task or that one. She caught sight of a bored looking woman with four arms casually and methodically squishing a few humans with her bare toe. One almost escaped but a nearby armored woman promptly plucked the poor man up and dropped him in her mouth. Iona shivered at the casual cruelty displayed here; quietly grateful she was not a human any longer.

Lyssia led her down a long flight of stairs and the other guard left to head back outside of the hall. Her dark haired escort gave her a small smile as they reached the bottom of the stairway, reaching a well-lit and large circular room. The ceiling above bore strange symbols that Iona couldn't even begin to guess the meaning of. There were several other passageways arrayed around the room leading to other parts of the great fortress. Lyssia came to a stop in the middle of the room, waving over a pretty young robed woman who looked mostly human-like. Except for the fact that she lacked hair of any form upon her body.

"Hey, Silvia, this is Iona. She is freshly fallen. Can you get her a bath and a warm meal? Maybe a fresh set of robes? I need to report her arrival to Lady Stormcaller." Lyssia asked, earning a nod in response.

"Alright then, she will take care of you. Once you are ready you will be brought before Lady Stormcaller. She should be able to sort out... whatever you being a marked of Yorik means." The armored woman said, removing her hand from Iona's.

"Thank you for your help, Lyssia." Iona said, forcing a nervous smile to her lips.

"Do not mention it, sister. Hope to see you around."

With that Lyssia was off down the northern hall and Iona found herself herded towards the eastern way. The woman leading her along was about her own height and wore rather drab grey robes, her feet bare. Her eyes were slightly down cast and most everything about her body language screamed demure. When Iona got a good look at her right hand she noticed a mark of chains surrounding a heart. The universal symbol for Issia, Goddess of Slavery, Servitude, and Bondage. So was she a slave? Did demi make other demi into slaves?

She was led down a few corridors before arriving at a large steamed filled room with a pool sized bath in the middle of it. It was mostly empty of people though she caught sight of a few humans looking like they were trying to get some water from the bath. Silvia did not break stride as she led Iona along, crushing one of the humans without a second thought. Her expression was utterly blank when she turned to regard Iona, much as it had been for all of their time together. She gestured to the robe and her sandals.

"Please remove them. They will be cleaned and returned to you at a later date." She said, her voice as monotone as they came.

Iona felt more than a bit uneasy disrobing for the woman but slowly untied the sash that kept the article of clothing closed. She let the fabric slip from her shoulders before unstrapping her sandals and setting them aside. The air was very warm but she still covered herself vainly to keep some modesty in front of this perfect stranger. Silvia did not grant her form a sideways glance as she set aside her dirty clothes and took up a cloth and some scented soap, handing them to Iona before promptly moving towards the humans in the room.

"Please bathe at your leisure, sister. I need to clean the room of pests."

"Wait! You don't have to kill them!" Iona said before properly thinking it through.

The hairless woman turned back to her, cocking her head slightly. "How else would you recommend dealing with them, sister? Slaves are not permitted to wander without an owner. Those that do are pests."

Iona thought quickly. "What if I took ownership of them?"

Silvia blinked. "You are not a resident of Stormhold at the moment, thus you do not possess ownership rights."

"What about you then? You are a demi and a resident of this place, so you could take ownership of them." She replied, trying desperately to avoid watching five innocent people end up as red stains on the floor.

Silvia was silent for a moment before a slight look of curiosity crossed her face; the first expression Iona had seen her express. "Why would I want to make them my slaves?"

Iona seized upon that thread of hope. "Because you can never have enough slaves, right? Plus I bet they are really good at uh... what do you use your slaves for?"

"I have them clean my quarters and pleasure me upon occasion." She responded.

Iona was a bit disgusted to learn that last bit but she rolled with it. "Well, I bet that pleasuring bit has a high turnover rate. So you'd have plenty of replacements and you could have your quarters cleaned faster with more hands working. I bet they would love to be the slaves of someone as a beautiful and exotic as you."

Silvia blushed slightly at the compliment, looking at the humans near her feet. They were shouting agreements to whatever Iona had said. After pursing her lips for a moment the woman plucked them up one by one and placed them in the pocket of her robes. Iona let out a sigh of relief. They were probably going to die eventually anyway but at least she had bought a little bit of time for them. That had to count for something she supposed. The woman cleaned up the bloodstain from the human she had crushed and Iona opted to get in the bath.

The warm water soothed the aches and pains of her body away and the peasant born woman sighed, luxury like this never having been available to her before. Silvia finished cleaning up the bloodstain and knelt down near Iona, running water through her hair. That certainly felt a bit weird as Iona had never had servants waiting upon her. This close she could hear the crying of the humans in her pocket and tried to block it out. She was starting to think the humans that lived in constant terror of a demi coming over the next hill had it much easier than a demi's slave.

"Do you... do you really think I am beautiful?" The woman asked, nervousness breaking her normal monotone.

Iona turned slightly to look at the pale, hairless woman. She was youthful most certainly and her form rivaled Iona's. Her lack of hair anywhere was certainly a bit off putting but once one looked past that she was certainly pretty. Most of the demi Iona had laid eyes upon in this place were rather attractive. One or two of the armored women possessed some ugly scars along their faces though considering they were warriors that was no surprise. What could do that to a demi was a better question.

"Yes, I do." Iona assured, trying to look past the casual murder thing.

"Even though I do not possess hair?"

"Even then."

Silvia blushed lightly again as she returned to washing Iona's hair. The red head had no idea exactly why Silvia had no hair and why some of the demi's barely looked human but she supposed that was a question Ophelia would answer. Along with where to find the heartless bitch that destroyed her village if Ophelia herself was not her. With a start she figured that the very woman washing her hair probably would have done the same thing. Among demi it was just casually accepted. What the black armored demi had done was not a crime to them. The mere thought got her blood boiling.

Her thoughts turned towards her current location and as she thought on the fact that there was literally countless tons of stone overhead she felt more than a bit anxious. It wasn't that she was afraid of being stuck underground, but being so far underground with a literal mountain overhead was certainly unnerving. She tried to shake the unease off but it stayed with her no matter what, settling in her gut like a rather large rock.

After the bath Silvia led her to a room beside the bathing chamber and gave her a similar set of grey robes to the ones she wore. In fact, most servants tended to wear them along with being hairless Iona noticed. From the dressing room she was taking to a large dining all across the circular room and thankfully was not given a plate of humans to eat. Instead it was some strange mossy substance and a slab of some kind of meat.

"What are these?" She asked Silvia.

"The moss is grown underneath Stormhold by the Daughters of Ethrie. The meat is harvested from the dragons bred here."

Iona was halfway through a bite of the dragon meat before she nearly ended up choking on it. She... she was eating dragon. The new demi was not certain whether or not she should be feeling sick or not. It tasted pretty damn good but that did not change the fact that she was eating dragon, and that it apparently was a common food around here. She had wanted to know how demi survived and ate and now that she had her answer she wasn't sure she actually wanted it. Silvia gave her a look of the slightest concern.

"Are you well? Is the dragon undercooked?" She inquired.

"Ah, no, no, just not used to the taste." Iona excused lamely.

The dragon tasted a little like pork actually if the new demi was being perfectly honest with herself. The moss was a little bland but it was fine when chased down with water. She opted not to pay any mind to those other demi in the hall scarfing down plates of innocent humans. The screams were, unfortunately, getting easier to block out the longer she spent in this place. Once she finished her draconic meal Silvia led her down the hall that Lyssia had gone down before. She gathered herself as she followed the servant, the imposing set of doors at the end of the hall setting a certain tone. They were opened slowly and Iona could hear words beyond.

"...Have no interest in excuses. You will pay the tribute on time and in the same bulk as any other city under my dominion." Came a sharp voice.

Iona gazed at the spacious throne room and at the scene playing out before her with wide eyes. A tall demi with dark hair, blue skin and white veins was gazing down at a group of well-dressed humans upon the ground at the foot of her throne. She was flanked by two guards on either side, a demi with dirty blonde hair and a human appearance standing next to the human guests. The woman was dressed in a white and gold robe and possessed sandals gemmed with some yellow stones. Her dark grey eyes rose to meet her new guests before returning to the humans she was currently granting audience to.

The leader of the humans there, a wizened old man with a stooped gate spoke up. "My lady, I must beg a relief from you! Our prisons are nowhere near full enough to deliver your demands!"

"All I care about is the tribute being met. Where you get the slaves to send is not my problem. These terms were agreed upon by your grandfather, Lord Shiak, and will be upheld. Once every two years you are to deliver fifty slaves to me. It is the same price all cities pay." The woman said, glaring at the lord.

"Please, my lady, I bed your mercy on behalf of my people! Please do not force us to send innocent men and women to you!"

The woman pointed a finger to the human on the immediate right of Lord Shiak. Iona heard the air crackle and sizzle malevolently though she could not begin to fathom the power to follow. A bolt of blue lightning shot from her finger, striking the human. The event was instantaneous but when it was over there was nothing left of the man on the lord's right but a blackened spot upon the floor. Iona could smell the scent of burnt flesh still faintly upon the air and felt like she might throw up, still more than a little in awe of that power. The woman on the throne leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at the human.

"I care nothing for you humans, insect. Your people call you lord but you are just another speck to me, daring to speak beyond your station. You will deliver your promised tribute; else I will personally visit Westbrook and level the city. I will exterminate every single tiny insignificant being there but for fifty and I will tell those fifty to flee across the land to tell them of your fate. Get this insect out of my sight, Amelia!" The woman snarled, the woman standing next to the humans bowing before gathering the protesting creatures up and heading out.

Iona swallowed hard as she noted Silvia moving forward, prompting her to take shaky steps towards the woman on the throne. Looking at her Iona found her unnatural looking but possibly almost as heart achingly beautiful as the black armored woman had been. The veins on her body were like little streaks of lightning across her flawless skin. Her eyes were like the sky just before a thunderstorm and crackled with the same intensity. Her full lips were turned up in a slight smile upon seeing Iona and she rose, her arms held out slightly.

"Ah. Welcome to Stormhold, sister. I am Lady Ophelia Stormcaller."