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.