The shadow-touched leader met with the Demon Lord they knew as Galea. A private location that left any doubt behind of spies or sabotage regarding the business agreement that was about to be made. In the Dark Province, demons were the superior race, and many of the humans that inhabited the land were touched by an element of the world they lived in. Earth, Shadow, and Water were most common. Those who were Wind element were wiped out entirely, and Fire-touched humans were very rare.
A thin and wiry woman with shoulder length black hair stepped forward, donned in a dress made from shadows that clung to her body like silk and showed off her more appealing features. Her name was Shar. She approached a bald man looking to appear in his upper twenties, with a well-trimmed goatee and fierce eyes that burned with Dominance. His tall and strong physique was cloaked by a long black robe that had no seam in the front, and stopped at his feet. The fabric was thin, but when one approached him would feel a shield of heat, pushing away all cold air surrounding him.
He moved his eyes over the body of the woman who approached and bowed low, dropping one knee to the ground before she rose and addressed the reason for their meeting. As always instructed, her violet-hued eyes held his stare.
"My Lord, when we first spoke of our trades, I recall that you wanted us to keep an eye out for women of a particular element. Those who have been fire-touched."
Galea nodded once to confirm this, and undressed Shar with his eyes, watching how uncomfortable she was to be within his presence.
"Continue."
"We have found a woman that hasn't been broken by any of our strongest Masters." She said, swallowing her pride with bitterness leaving her mouth. "We think she is fire-touched."
"Oh, yes, much like the last woman who you believed to be fire-touched. Turns out she was just a very willful water element that died with my first spell." He snarled at them, and immediately he collected his anger when he saw how the proud woman cowered at the thought of his wrath. This filled him with bloody satisfaction.
Galea very much enjoyed the reputation he earned of being a hard Master, and a cruel fire demon. Yet, he loathed going through human slaves month after month by unintentionally killing them with torment or pushing their limits too far. He longed for a slave that could handle his ways. Only women who were fire-touched could do so. They were so rare, as they were killed by the thousands for their power so many years ago. Many of them hid their ability, and even more did not live in normal societies where there would be a calculated risk of being revealed.
"I meant not to have wasted your time with that woman, My lord, nor this one if she proves to not be one of fire." Shar stepped within the shield of that heat, and felt it caress her body with what felt like a thousand hands pleasurably touching at her skin. She almost buckled at the knees, and he grinned evilly to her struggle to resist pleasure pooling hotly between her thighs.
"And what do you offer for my inconvenience?" He asked in a deep and curious tone.
Gently, he let up on the invisible hands caressing over her skin so that she may speak. Catching her breath, she looked up at him once again.
"We offer any woman you wish from our fortress to have at your dispense. We understand that shadow-touched can only appease you for so long, but it's all we have to offer. I will provide you with the keys to the dungeon that she is being held so that you may see her for yourself. If she proves to be of fire descent, we may discuss a price for her purchase. If she is not, you may have her free of charge." She curled her upper lip. "We will be glad to be rid of her."
Galea laughed softly. This sent a chill through the very core of each shadow-touched human in the gathering that came to visit him.
"If she is not of fire descent, then I will kill her, plain and simple. I have no use anymore for a woman that isn't fire-touched. I kill too many of them to continue putting forth effort that runs out in a month. Whether because the girls kill themselves, or I kill them, intentional or not."
"Very well." Shar answered swiftly, choking back a string of words that would have protested to the woman being killed and not sold on another market.
"Lead us there, now." He commanded.
"You're not bringing any money? What if she proves to be fire-touched?"
Galea's eyes narrowed at Shar and his hand stretched out towards her. She felt her air supply choked and pulses of fire burn through her blood. Shar screamed in pain, writhing along the ground in discomfort. She cried for him to stop, begging within seconds of his method to cease tormenting her. No other shadow folk stepped forward to stop him or save her. They all feared him and his magic.
Gently, he let up his fire pulses running through her to speak.
"You will never question me. If she is fire-touched, we will discuss payment. Until then, consider everything to be free, and I will be moving under the assumption that she is free until she proves to be of use to me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my Lord." She groaned through a veil of pain.
"Good girl." He released her of any touches, painful or pleasurable that would hinder her ability to lead the Demon Lord to their fortress and seek entrance.
After an hour of traveling, they arrived at the fortress, walking through the common room of the enclosed towers. He stopped in the middle, and cleared his throat. Shar turned around to look at him confused.
"Is there something wrong, my Lord?"
"Not at all. Though, I am not interested in seeing my room. I want to see the girl, now. If she isn't fire-touched, there's no sense in settling into my suite for the night if I don't plan to stay."
Swallowing the lump in her throat, knowing that if she were wrong, Shar could be killed for wasting his time. Pushing aside all thoughts of such, she handed him three keys and spoke to him which cell she was staying in.
Tauntingly, he approached her slowly and lifted the keys delicately from her hand, which she still coiled back from him despite his gentle demeanor. He smiled broadly and approached the heavy wrought iron door that he unlocked to lead himself into the dungeon.
After two long flights of stairs, he entered a long hall of doors made from iron, and walls that held hint of frost. It was shockingly cold down here, but his aura alone kept him warm as he counted each door until he was in front of number 4. He opened the door slot to look inside, and he saw a young, naked woman hanging by her wrists against the wall, blindfolded. Her name was Tania.
Her body was slender and slightly toned in the stomach region, and her legs were stretched longer than her upper body, giving her height up into about the 5'9 to 5'11 range. Her champagne blonde hair spilled in long waves down her back and front over her peach toned flesh. He knew the blindfold had to be hiding sapphire blue eyes. She couldn't have appeared more than eighteen years old.
She doesn't look fire-touched, he thought to himself. Many had red or auburn hair, and had the fiercest green eyes. What made this one so different from the rest?
Tania's chin lifted, hearing someone at her door, shivers running through her body from the ice that surrounded her cell. When she was awake, Galea closed the slot and unlocked the door. Leading himself inside, the warmth of his aura filled the small room and touched the youth that was pinned to the wall. She made a soft noise as the warmth caressed her skin, and nearly lost herself in enjoying the feel before she realized someone was in the cell with her, and hadn't spoken yet. When she had stopped responding to the warmth, that's when she could feel the cold in his voice as he spoke.
"I'm here to see if you're worth keeping alive. Brace yourself."
She barely had a second to brace herself before she could feel waves of fire burning through her blood, and her air supply begin to choke as her lungs were filled with hot air. The same method he used upon Shar, he now used on this slave. Tania howled in pain and her whole body clenched before he saw faint pulses of lava magic running through her veins, and not just any normal lava magic. As he continued to thrash her with his fire magic, her defensive magic aura took the form of a phoenix, sending her body into euphoria.
So, the Great Phoenix had a descendant after all.
