Demon Child Chapter 2
A demon is born.
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xantu
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The child was born much like any other, forced out amid blood and tears. Born naked and helpless, it wailed its protest at the injustice of being forced out of its refuge. The witch doctor held the little thing up and took note of its strange appearance. Its eyes were an odd milky blue; its skin was white as the face of the moon. Strangest of all a thin coating of orange hair covered its head.
Kharthmah was surprised to see it was a female. He had not sensed that when he had traced its outline in its mothers belly. After its first squall of rage during the birth, the child was silent, hanging still and passive in his hands. He could feel its eyes looking at him, focusing with awareness impossible for a newborn. A strong premonition of danger shook him.
Kharthmah hastily laid it on the ground and burned some herbs, inhaling the smoke. He broke an egg that had been buried under the mother's sleeping mat the last weeks of her pregnancy. As the pungent smell of the rotten egg filled the hut, he studied its contents. The old man began to keen and screech, "This demon child has omens swirling around her. She carries within her great powers. She will bring of doom or luck to all around her. Any who would cause her death will be cursed."
Kharthmah picked up the tiny baby and pressed it to Sa'amdi's breast. The woman turned and tried to thrust the baby away. He grabbed her hair and shook her. "Servant, you will suckle this demon. I will not have its spirit haunting this village because you refused to feed it."
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The infant was fed and cleaned only when absolutely necessary. Thin and neglected, she learned to survive on little from the first days of her life. The milky blue of her infant eyes changed to the light gray of the demon that had spawned her. Free to crawl about in the dirt of the dark and smoky hut, she learned quickly that the smallest noise or irritation would earn her a blow or a kick sooner than a scrap of food or a mother's attention. She developed an uncanny ability to sense the moods of those around her. She learned to be silent and wary.
Sa'amdi left the tribe of the Ramaldi when the demon was only three summers old, eager to leave behind the child and the memories it carried with it. The girl remembered little of her mother beyond the tones of hate in her voice. She could remember the echo of her bitterness as Sa'amdi spoke of the demon that had destroyed her life, her family and burdened her with this child she hated. She remembered, word for word, the story of the demon's death at her mother's hands.
The orphan lived in the hut of the medicine man. Having a demon for a pet greatly increased his status among the other medicine men of the Ramaldi tribes. Kharthmah was a poor parent to the small red haired girl. He only called her 'demon' and frequently forgot to feed her or provide the simplest clothing. She learned the arts of healing and poisons at his side. The old witch doctor refused to teach her magic; saying, "You must find your own magic."
Every time she left the hut to gather herbs or to do any of the many chores that needed doing, the people of the village would point and whisper. Her pale coloration stood out against the dark skinned people of the Ramaldi tribe. She could feel their fear and hate on her skin as they would stare. She was the target of curses and thrown filth. If she complained to Kharthmah about her treatment by the villagers he would laugh and say, "You are a demon, girl, curse them."
Kharthmah never washed. His filthy appearance enhanced his reputation as a witch. It did not occur to him to teach her to wash. Her skin was layered with dirt. She covered her head with dirty rags, hating her red demon hair. She learned to keep her eyes downcast to hide her demon eyes. The villagers called her Neekah, dirty one, more of a description than a name. It was the only name she knew.
Neekah had her first woman's blood at twelve years. It was when she had the first dreams of flying. Not high, just skimming along the surface of the ground at amazing speed, a loud pounding in her ears. The dreams filled her nights.
As Kharthmah grew older he spent more and more of his time drowsing, his spirit traveling in the world of the ancestors. She was fourteen summers when Kharthmah failed to wake from one of his journeys. The village people came and chased her away from the hut. They burned the body of the old man, singing the songs to guide his spirit away from their world. They stole what little there was of value.
Neekah was alone for the first time in her life. She stayed alone in the hut, but the villagers no longer sought out medicine and prophecy, bringing payments of food. Hunger drove her out at night seeking food, sneaking and milking the goats in the field for the sweet milk, stealing from the meat drying racks. She had knowledge of wild plants and their uses from assisting Kharthmah. She learned to hide and move silently in the dark. She could find enough to survive.
Living as an outcast, Neekah grew to be a woman. Any Ramaldi girl would have been married and a mother twice over by her age. She was tall, standing a hand's span taller than the tallest man of the village. She had developed the custom of cutting her demon hair as close to her scalp as she could with a knife and keeping a rag tied around her head. But she could not hide her demon's grace. She had a whip lean body, hardened by starvation and work, and a lithe movement that drew men's eyes.