Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Water splashing against stone woke Kalliope from her slumber. Every part of her body was in pain, and all her joints were sore. It was as if she had slept on a rock, which turned out to not be too far from the truth as she woke up.

The floor beneath her was hard and damp and made entirely of stone. In the small room she found herself in there was a small pile of hay in the corner with a torn leather hide placed on top of it as a makeshift bed. In the opposite corner was a cracked clay pot. Three out of the four walls were made of the same stone as the floor. Where the fourth wall would have been was a large set of bars.

Each bar was as thick as Kalliope's leg and seemed to be enhanced with some form of enchantment. Kalliope could follow the stream of mana that supplied the enchantment with power, down the hall and saw a series of strange crystals on pedestals.

The construction was odd, but something she figured she should have expected from the elven nation. It was also far too complex for her to figure out with a simple glance. Not that she could even reach the crystals in the first place and was imprisoned in the very cell they powered.

Several sets of footsteps echoed through the hall as a group of elves walked past her cell while carrying another person between them. They gave Kalliope a sideways glance before opening the cell across from hers and tossing the person inside. They slammed the door closed, then tapped the bars with a crystal that they placed on the same pedestal the others rested on.

The person they had dragged in showed no signs of moving anytime soon and was assumed to simply be unconscious still. While waiting for her new housemate to awaken, Kalliope continued to investigate her surroundings.

Other than what she observed earlier, the rest of the cell was empty. Other than her plain clothes, she had a set of cuffs on her wrist that seemed to inhibit her mana usage. Any time she attempted to use an Art or Magic, the mana was sucked away.

"Hmm…" she grumbled. "Stupid elves, always making fancy shit with their magic crystals."

"I take offense to that remark." A voice complained.

The person who was thrown into the cell across from hers was standing, albeit shakily, and facing her. They were clearly a half-elf of some sort, but their eyes were strange.

"Ah, trying to figure me out?" the half-elf woman chuckled, "I'm quarter beastman. Mom was an elf, dad was a half-blood with a wolf-beastman side. Only got the eyes out of the deal."

"I see. That is why you seem so interesting."

"Ha, yeah, maybe it's the wolf in me that's resonating with you. Anyway, I'm Ethi, nice to meet you…"

"Kalliope." She answered carefully. It was possible this person was a plant of some sort, so she needed to be cautious.

"What got you thrown in here?" Ethi asked, trying to maintain the conversation. "I'm an enchanter that owed some money to the wrong fellows and defaulted. How about you? Get sold by your master to settle his account?"

"I don't have a master. I'm a free woman."

"Doesn't really look like it at the moment."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Kalliope felt an annoyed growl begin in her throat, which Ethi heard and made her put her hands up in mock surrender. She stepped back and stayed quiet for a while, leaving Kalliope to her own thoughts.

Kalliope sat and tried to go over the course of events that brought her here. However, the last thing she remembered was hearing someone she thought was Lucius enter the room and cast a Dark Magic spell on her. Next thing she knew, she woke up on the cold stone of her cell.

"Ethi. Who are these people?"

"Oh, these guys? Just some thugs, mercenaries, and loan sharks for the most part." Ethi's tone was measured as if she was worried she might offend Kalliope again.

"That doesn't make sense…" she muttered. "We just arrived here."

"You could have been sold… are you a fighter?" Ethi asked. "You look like one."

"Yes, I am a warrior."

"Well, get comfortable then… they like to keep hold of fighters. Likely we will get moved to the markets hidden outside of the capital. They host fights there and can make quite a bit of money off people like you." Ethi explained.

"I doubt I will be under their thumb for long." Kalliope smiled.

"Oh?" Ethi smiled back, "Got it in your head that some great prince is going to come save the day? Rescue the warrior princess in need and all that?"

Kalliope thought about Lucius wearing princely clothes and laughed out loud. "A prince? I think not. He's more like a walking nightmare. When he finds me… well, it will not be pretty."

"Oh my," Ethi giggled, "What faith you have in such a person!"

"Absolute faith. As long as I stay alive, he will find me." Kalliope grinned and bared her teeth, imagining the rampage he would go on.

The two continued to talk about random things. Though she still did not completely trust Ethi, she slowly warmed up to the woman. It was nice to have company in the damp prison they both found themselves in.

According to Ethi, she was in deep debt with a number of loan sharks. She fancied herself an inventor of sorts and was always trying to do something new and innovative with her enchantments. Though many enchanters focused on large-scale technologies or weapons, Ethi liked to focus on individual items that made a difference to a family.

One item she claimed to have created was a cooking appliance that used a fire enchantment on a mana crystal that would heat the air in a chamber where food would be put to cook. The food would be lightly spritzed with oil, and then the superheated air in the chamber would 'fry' the food without the exceptional amounts of oil used in a standard frier.

Continue your adventure at empire

"That almost sounds like I would use it a lot."

"I thought people would think so too… but it turns out they only thought they would use it. A lot of the units sold ended up not getting used very often… people started giving them away to others and no one bought any new ones… so I went bust and now I'm here."

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that…"

"Hey, it is what it is… who knows what they'll do with me. I'm not a fighter, and clearly, I'm not a good inventor. Oh well, time will tell."