Pheoshan Chapter One The Princess And The Demon

 The Princess That Must Never Wake

Once upon a time there was an evil demon king Wolfox that terrorised the kingdom of Johanmercy. He killed people of all walks of life, from the youngest child to the oldest woman. Buildings were constantly being rebuilt over nine thousand times, as bloodlines were being wiped out. The people were sick with the stress that came from the fear. 

This terror had been delivered upon other nations and kingdoms all over Merth, yet he had not stayed in one area for as long as he had been there. This only made things worse as people wondered why he was.

One day a wise mage came to Johanmercy. Alongside him was a  knight who had joined him along his journey to the kingdom. The mage came to the land and the knight came to battle the demon king. He did this despite the mage's warnings that should he face the beast he would surely die. 

The moment that they saw the demon they would have parted ways however the mage had one thing to say to the knight.

"I know I have said this time and time again Ginwine you won't kill it. You do realise that?" He said. "Listen to me, I know that this will be your final battle."

The knight nodded.

"I may do, however I should still try nevertheless! After all, I refuse to die a coward!" He said as went on his way before he could have any more words edgewise.

The mage approached the king of Johanmercy, King Artah. He was a muscle heavy man clothed constantly in armour. His hair was the colour of sand with stern royal purple eyes.

Beside him was his kind and gentle wife Queen Shophanna. She had black hair that shone blue in the light with light green eyes. She was clothed in green satin and silk, who, despite her delicate frame, held a dagger in a silver gracious belt that covered her post pregnant stomach.

"Hello, Your Royal Majesty and Your Royal Highness. I am the mage Gandoraven and I am here to tell you something about your first born daughter, the Princess Pheoshan." He introduced.

The king and queen looked in between them worried.

"Oh no! She is not to be a witch is she?" Queen Shophanna asked worriedly.

"No, but I must tell you, she does have a destiny. This is why I have come, for I know that most Kings would think me to be a Warlock when I say this but the destiny that your daughter has, will put her in danger and she shall become a target of the Dark Master Lord. That is why you must know what her destiny is. It is to destroy the demonic forces-"

"We have already sent for a warrior-"

"Yes, I know and I have met him. He is playing his part right now. However he will fail to kill the Demon King, however he was destined to fight the demon and in this battle he is destined to lead the demon to his destined assassin." He said as he pointed to the baby in her cradle. 

"This very assassin is none other than your daughter and for some reason,I know not, she will become the only one who can defeat him."

Mean while the knight was in the middle of fighting the Demon King and he used his holy sword to cut the arm off the demon and the demon stood on his crushing it in the processes. The knight plunged the holy sword into the Demon King's heart but then the demon ripped off the knight's arm and threw the sword away, further than any eye could see. As they both fell the Demon King shrank and the knight dragged the unconscious foe to the King with his teeth and as he entered the King's presence he collapsed and his neck cracked and broke.

Gandoraven quickly dived to the knight as the knight had only enough breath to tell him his will.

"Let the child and only the child have the ability to draw the holy sword." He demanded with his last breath. 

The mage nodded and chanted a spell that bound the holy sword to the young princess.

"I am sorry but this is where I must part and bury my son." He said as he suppressed his tears as he left with the knight.

Then the King's advisor, the wize and powerful Sythvin, came up beside him. 

He had long and thin silver hair with narrow serpentine eyes. He wore a silver robe with black snowflakes embroidered into the sleeves. He carried a green belt with a bag filled with all kinds of potions.

He looked at the demon and curled his lip.

"We must not do what that man says. The demon must be put in her lord. Then she must be put to an enchanted sleep. Then I will take her to be secured, I am sorry lord but she must never wake again." He whispered as the king  nodded.

"You are right as always. Let it be done." He said with a heavy time to his voice.

The advisor took the demon and used his magic to seal him away in the girl's body and marked her chest with an X and took the child  away. He then placed the child in a tower then put her under a spell to keep her asleep. He returned before the mage could and chucked him out of the kingdom.

As the next year passed the Queen gave birth to a prince named Chuoshan. Even though they enjoyed life, they never forgot about Princess Pheoshan the princess that must never wake for if she does, Sythvin told them, the demon will break free and the reign of terror will continue…

The Broken Princess

Alex Fiststone was thirteen and had finished her fight against her latest challenger. She was cleaning the blood off her pale face with her black sleeve. She wore green jeans with a silver belt. All her clothes had long since been torn during all her battles that she enjoyed. She never had any clothing completely intact. Her royal purple eyes were stern and her jet black hair gave her an aggressive ice cold beauty.

She was approached by a woman. She was wearing a suit the colour of the day time cloudless sky with a matching skirt. Her tie was loose and light grey like the shade of a white cloud. Her hair was the colour of daffodils.

"May I have a try at fighting the Street Queen?" She asked. 

Alex looked at her and looked at her eyes the colour of wet grass.

"Sure, only if you have a death sentence for your pride." She remarked

She walked her to the ring. Which was an abandoned factory that was no longer in use. She then turned back to see that the woman was now, somehow in a tracksuit the same colours of her suit!

Alex frowned at the oddity but refrained a comment.

Alex looked at her assessing the strengths and weaknesses of her frame. She knew that this woman was doing the exact same thing as they started to circle one another clockwise trying to test which one had the best starting position. They again anticlockwise this time they paid close attention to their feet to monitor their walk patterns.

Then when Alex had done that she waited, patiently, for her opponent to strike and when she did, the woman somehow hit her from behind, giving her no opportunity to dodge or block! Alex then turned and let out a fist to where she knew that the woman's stomach was but the woman was not even there! She could sense that the woman was behind her and she elbowed back but somehow the woman was in front of her! And as difficult for her mind to comprehend somehow disappeared and Alex felt something hit her neck. She was down and incapable of moving.

"How?" She managed to say. 

She couldn't have hit me that hard could she? No, but neither should she be able to do half of those things that she did. I mean how did she disappear like that? Alex thought as her eyes dropped to her gang. To her astonishment they were frozen like time had stopped!

"What have you done to my mates!" She cried. "Just who exactly are you?"

"Who I am is none of your concern at the moment. What is your concern is the fact that you are not Alex Fiststone, and this world is not real. You are under an enchanted sleep which you must wake up from and that you are in a dark tower. However I am sorry, for to wake you up, a man will come to break you. He will try to do this three times, first, he will try to break your body, if that does not work then he will attack your will and if that does not work, your heart." She explained as Alex's head began to spin.

"There is a prince that will try to protect you, however he cannot be trusted." She said as she stood up and walked away unfreezing her friends in the process. 

Alex was pale and confused.
      Later she was challenged by a boy who seemed about the same age as her. His hair was like it had been carved out of wood and eyes like grey crystals with shadows under his wide eye that were so pale that even a blank page would look grey next to it. He had an odd cold sick handsomeness to him.

"Alright, I'll fight you. So, what's your name kid?" She asked.

"Coalphyre." He replied in a cold sick voice.

"Interesting name!" She commented. "Wanna put that on the board!"

"Alright!" Her friend shouted as he started to engrave his name on the old red car along with other names.

"It is spelt C O A L P H Y R E not C O L E F I R E." He corrected before they could even make the mistake.

They then started circling one another. Alex spotted that this confused Coalphyre at first but she spotted that he quickly understood what she was doing and then dived in with a predictable punch. Alex raised an eyebrow and suppressed a sigh as she took him by the wrist and fling him to the ground. He twisted and used his feet to propel him but as his feet touched the ground he lost balance and fell. 

Alex decided to help him by letting out the sigh. He pulled himself up with her help and as if drunk his head lolled and he fainted in her arms just as an arrow flew past her skimming her ear.

She set Coalphyre down gently as she walked over to the arrow. On it was a piece of parchment rolled up into a scroll. Sighing, she pulled the arrow out of the car door. As she looked around she subconsciously unrolled the scroll. She looked back at it when she felt that it was safe to.

To The Demon Princess

     If you are reading this
it means that my attempt
to break your body has
failed, but no matter, no
matter. I still have two
more shots at it.

      For surviving,
I would be pleased
for you to allow me
to reward you

        Your Knight

P.S. Join me tomorrow
after noon, and dare not
be late!

Coalphyre asked if she was alright as he stirred. She looked up and smiled and nodded as she helped him up. With the one that engraved his name on the car door they walked to the hospital together. Alex made her excuse as she left to go home to ponder over the day's bizarre events.

The next day she walked to the place where, whoever wanted to break her, had designated and purposely arrived late. Just to spite them, however the joke was on her for what she saw was the friend that had engraved Coalphyre's name on the car door was tied to a pole. He was pail and unmoving. He was just hanging there like a doll. Then horror stuck as Alex's eyes dropped only to see a dagger in his chest pinning a note in his corpse.
 
      To The Demon Princess

     How do you like your reward? Aren't I considerate?

         Your Knight

     P.S. I dearly hope that you are broken now!

Alex screamed at the top of her lungs and shouted for help. She tried to call the police but unusually enough there was no signal. She screamed again as people started to appear. 

She looked around afraid that they would think that she was the one that did it but none looked at her. None seemed to know that she was there. 

She ran up to one of them to go and get help but as she approached and hit one of them her fist passed right through her as if she was punching thin air. She could not even feel the woman! Her eyes looked at her fist, wondering what just happened. Then as if to add oil to the furnace of turmoil the woman walked right through her! Then another and another! It was as if she was not even there!

"Looks like you're beginning to break." Alex heard Coalphyre say as he came into the light. 

She looked at him with anger and confusion.

"You did this? Why?"

He shook his head. He had a disappointed look on his face mixed in with screaming dread. He let a deep breath out as he looked directly at her.

"To break you but I can tell that it is not enough. Shame, it seems like I am going to have to break your heart."

Alex went to punch him as she connected the dots in her mind but her fist would not obay her. She tried to look down to see why but her eyes followed Coalphyre and they could not be deterred. As he approached she tried to move her body, vowing to give him a punch the minute he let her go.

"Just to let you know that I am very sorry for what I am about to do Princess Pheoshan Wolfhiemstine." He said as he leaned in and kissed her. 

An electric anger struck her mind. Now he was definitely going to get a punch or twenty. He pulled away and smiled at her.

"My sister, Phyredoor did tell you not to trust the prince now did she not?" He said as he pulled out a knife. 

"Now I am going to have to get my hands dirty as I pierce your heart. Do not worry, I and Phyredoor will come for you. Fear not for you will not be in pain for very long. Once you have died to this world you will wake up after I have kissed you in the real world." He explained as he rammed the dagger as painlessly as possible into her heart and broke it. 

"Hold on until then will you, okay?"

She closed her eyes as her dream life as Alex Fitsstone came to an end.

The Princess Awakes

Prince Coalphyre and Phyredoor woke up back in the real world. After Coalpyre had opened the door out of the dreamworld that Princess Pheoshan had been trapped in, they knew what to do. Now was the time for the second part of the plan.

Ordinarily they would have celebrated, however, now was not the time for celebration. They knew that they could not afford to delay. They needed to get to Pheoshan before anyone else and before anyone could put her back to sleep. 

Prince Coalphyre pulled out the map he had stolen from King Artah and Queen Shophanna when he visited his father's grave last. They knew that it was wrong to steal it but they could not afford to focus upon that. He needed to get Pheoshan awake and back in the real world. His map told him where the Dark Tower where Princess Pheoshan lay.

They quickly analysed it and knew where to go. They passed a place known as the Forest Of Death. They followed the trail that was designed to keep them safe from the whisperings of the carnivorous yes that made up the first. They did all to ignore them regardless of what they whispered in their ears. They soon felt relieved as the forest ended. 

They spotted the Dark Tower ahead. It was made of black glass with crimson windows and emerald slates on the single circular crooked roof. Leaching onto its walls was a poisonous purple rose vine with dark green vines.

As they approached they spotted a small red door almost hidden for it was so small. Already noticing that Phiredoor was far too tall he turned to her.

"I must go on alone." He said he rested a hand on her as she opened her mouth to protest. "You must guard the entrance. Let none in and do not let me leave without Princess Pheoshan."

"Don't you mean the Demon Princess?" Phyredoor laughed.

He looked at her angry and raised his finger to his older half sister.

"No, that is what her enemies call her." He replied. "As we are not her enemies, we should never call her by that rebooting name."

Phyredoor nodded as he took his hand and shook.

"Well may the Great Being be with you!" She said as the Prince opened the door with his stolen key. 

He then walked through the door and locked it to prevent anyone else from getting in.

He turned around to see that he was in a bare room that looked oddly light with untrodden stone cobbles and dusty walls. In the centre was a long mirror with an intact silver ivy pattern that seemed as if the silver had somehow platted itself in place.

He then walked to the centre and looked at himself in the mirror. He knew what to do, for he had acquired the answer from a drunken Sythvin.

He curled his lip in disgust.

"Mirror, mirror in this room, give me passage to Princess doom!" He said, remembering that people can only speak to mirrors in rhyme.

"My prince, my prince, art thou sure? For she maybe evil to her core!" The mirror asked.

"Mirror, mirror, the choice is mine! Thus I shall pay my own fine." He replied.

"My prince, my prince, as you will discover, may you be friend, foe or lover, be there three, then ahead there she be." The mirror explained.

He nodded and ran into the mirror. He soon passed the water-like surface.

He found himself in a room made of solid one hundred carat gold. Ahead of him was a silver door with a keyhole in. He looked around for the key and spotted that there was a gold string with golden keys. 

Remembering the answer that he got from the drunken Sythvin he started to scratch each of the keys until he found what he was looking for. An iron key with a gold plating hung at the end and he took it off the string and then picked off all of the gold plating, as Sythvin had instructed. He then slid it through for the next test.

He entered a bare room with an uneven wooden flooring and bare brick walls. Then he spotted that there was something moving something sharp and shiny. To his dread he quickly realised that they were knives! Shaking but keeping as calm as possible he observed the knives. His grandfather had always told him that these enchantments had patterns. So he waited until he was certain that he knew the pattern before he continued.

He counted and knew that he would have to walk out the words DWELL IN SLUMBER as he did the door to the next room opened.

Inside was a mighty dragon as black as coal and eyes of embers. She woke up and he gripped his sword. He drew it and ran up to her. She released a line of fire and he dodged it. He continued until he was underneath her where her stomach was and slashed. She roared and scratched him to her tail with her right hind leg. Then whipped him with the tip making sure to get the arrow of her tail in. He retaliated by digging his sword into the centre of their arrow and rolled out of the way as he spliced the back if her hind legs. She roared and flew out of the window and into the mirror and smashed out of the window of the tower barely escaping with her life.

Panting he took a small break to calm himself down. He needed to slow his heartbeat so that he did not lose more blood than he needed to. When he felt better he opened the door to the next room. There he saw Princess Pheoshan asleep on a stone slab like a prisoner rather than what a princess aught to be sleeping on.

He walked up to her ant took her hand in his. He checked to make sure that she had not been bound up or chained to the stone slab. He smiled a little spotting there was none. The confidence of Sythvin, he must have thought that slumber was quite enough to keep her from escaping.

"Now it's time for you to wake." He sighed.

He, filled with dread as he leaned in and kissed her. The princess that should never wake, the broken princess opened her eyes, the sorcerer's spell broke... As well as Coalphyre's nose!

"Yeah I guess that I deserve that!" He said nursing her punch!

The Demon Departs

When Princess Pheoshan opened her eyes for the first time all she wanted to do was kill Prince Coalphyre. What he had done to her, made her blood boil with rage. Yet when she saw him standing over her looking so concerned about her all she could do was give him a punch with all the strength that she had in her body.

"Yes, I deserve that!" He said as if to say 'typical' to her. 

Her lip curled as she gave him the evils but her anger was quenched. He wiped the blood away with his sleeve.

"Anyway, we have no time to waste." He said.

Pheoshan tried to pull herself up and stand, but as she took her first, real, step she fell. Fortunately, before she hurt herself, Prince Coalphyre caught her. 

"Here, I will carry you."

She opened her mouth to speak but he pointed at her and looked at her very sternly.

"Do not argue you are not strong enough yet to walk on your own. You will be able to later as we go on and your muscles develop but for now you must let me and my sister carry you. Ideally we would have you return home and have you greet your parents and let you develop those muscles on your own, but we have got to get that Demon King out of you first."

"What Demon King?" She asked, letting him pick her up.

"The Demon King Wolfox Akishiné, Wolfox spelt with a w not a v by the way." He explained as he started walking. 

Like I'm interested.

"He was never meant to have entered you but he did and these past thirteen years we have been trying to find a way to both wake you up and get that Demon King out of you."

Prince Coalphyre kicked down the door and carefully navigated the debris making sure not to drop Princess Pheoshan. He then found it was easier to get out than it was to journey in. Then again most journeys can be like that. When they were at the red door Prince Coalphyre gently placed her down and unlocked the door.

"You locked us in?" She mocked.

"It was to ensure that I would not leave here without you. I even told my sister not to let me leave here without you." He replied as he opened the door. 

He outstretched his arm to her. Knowing stubbornness would be useless she took it and he helped walk her to his stallion.

Phiredoor approached and kneeled before her.

"Princess Pheoshan, it is an honour to see you awake in the real world." She exclaimed, taking her hand and placing her knuckles in the centre of her forehand. She then moved on and readied the other horse and they were off.

They travelled long and hard, not even stopping for a second. When Prince Coalphyre knew that the stallions could no longer travel without at least resting did they stop. Phyredoor helped Princess Pheoshan off the shattered horse and Prince Coalphyre went off to gather some firewood and water. 

Phyredoor then helped Princess Pheoshan practice walking and supported her as she did. Even though her muscles hurt as she did she continued until the pain of her task got to her. Then Phyredoor massaged her calves and thighs.

"Good work. I know it will take time, but you will be able to get there. Soon you will be able to run around the place. Maybe even fight Coalphyre in the real world."

She smiled.

"I like the sound of doing that!"

Then Prince Coalphyre returned with a dead rabbit in his hands and Phyredoor gutted it as he took out a metal pot. He filled part of it with the water that he collected and then the remnants of the rabbit were dropped into it. Then once that had been cooked they ate. However Princess Pheoshan only had a small portion for if she had a normal one with her underdeveloped stomach would not be able to take it and it would kill her, but she still felt hurt by not having one.

Then when they were all fed up and the stallions had their share they moved on. It was not until the sun was far below the horizon that they set up camp.

"That's odd!" She said suddenly.

"What is?" Phyredoor and Prince Coalphyre asked in unison.

"The sky, it's changing from blue to dark purple." She explained.

"Yes, in that Dream Hell it was not like here. It reminds me of tales of the world without the Rainbow Sky." Prince Coalphyre explained.

"What's a Dream Hell?" She asked.

"Let us all hope that you never shall find that out." He replied sleepily as they fell asleep. 

They continued on until nightfall. They stopped outside a small cottage hidden in the overgrowth of the surrounding forest. Only the light in the clouded windows that barely made it out from all the mud and dust told you that it was there.

There was movement from the inside and a creek of a door then an old but black haired man came out. His silver eyes were sunken deep into his skull and flesh hung tightly from his bones making it easy to see his skull.

"Prince Coalphyre and his bastard half sister! And whom might you be?" He asked.

"She is the Princess Pheoshan, the one you placed the Demon King Wolfox Akishiné in. Now I would like for you to get him out of her." He said. He nodded and held her hand.

"Come, child." He said as he helped her off the stallion and let her down on the floor.

"Monster in the heart, Demon now depart, shine now unseen future star, send him so ever far!" He casted.

Suddenly Princess Pheoshan felt pain inside her body. It felt as if something was tearing up and forcing itself out of her. She found herself coughing as she started to scream out in pain. Then the pain intensified to such a point that she saw nothing but the blackness of her eyelids. When she came too, she spotted that the man was gone and could sense that the demon was too. She felt an odd peaceful light sensation in her chest.

Then Prince Coalphyre steadied her and she realized that she was riding the stallion they provided for her. She spotted high chalk white walls coming up ahead. They were riding towards a black wood gate where it was above a river. When the gates dropped they acted like a bridge.

At the gate to greet them stood her parents and younger brother followed by a whole month of celebration.

The Demon Apple

It was on the final day of the celebration of the return of Princess Pheoshan when Sythvin approved her.

"Your highness-"

"Please call me Pheoshan. I'm not used to the idea that I am a princess."

"Yes, Pheoshan, please could you come with me. I would like to have a word with you in private. It's important."

She smiled and nodded as he led her down a tall dark hallway made of stone with blackey pink painted walls. There was a foul, off odour like rotten raw meat that clung to the air like glue. 

Ignoring it, she continued clenching the back of her jaw together to prevent herself showing signs of disgust. She felt herself sucking upon her tongue to make herself focus upon anything else.

"Thanks by the way... You know, for the whole demon thing." She said, feeling compelled to do so, but also awkward for doing so.

He smiled and nodded as if to say you're welcome. 

She frowned for a moment. 

Then she started to feel uneasy about something in his silence. This sense built as he led her out of the castle and into the woods at the south side of the castle. 

He then stopped at the end where a large wolf with lunar coloured eyes sat.

"Our friend would love to talk to you." He said as he gestured for her to go on.

"'Our'?" She asked as she passed and walked across the field.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my dear old host, the lost little Demon Princess." Spoke the midnight coloured wolf.

"Wolfox?" Princess Pheoshan spoke almost like breathing.

Suddenly he rose up and soon she was looking at a humanoid wolf with dragon-like wings with four scarlet horns on his head and emerald claws. He was as tall as the trees of the woods. 

She looked so small in front of him. She felt horror strike her to her very core. She felt her body shake as her heart raced. She could feel ice cold sweat coat her. Her mind raced as fast as her heart, struggling to process exactly what she was seeing.

She took a step back for a moment.

"Yes, it is I but make no attempt to escape or fight for we both know that your muscles are not developed enough to do either of those things."

"You're not here for revenge are you? I didn't think that you were that pathetic." She jabbed, trying to mask her fear.

The Demon King laughed and dug up some of the mud beneath with his claws.

"Well, that all depends on you. Well, if you want to join us, that is." He proposed. "Trust me, you would want to be on our side when things boil down to it. If you need a good reason to do so then remember; they locked an evil creature inside you. Without either of our consent, may I add. They locked us in a black tower and locked your mind away in that Dream Hell without reason. So would you do that? Could you do that to such an innocent little child?"

The corners of her eyes narrowed like she had eaten something sour and started to walk away to demonstrate her answer. Wolfox raised his whisker eye brow in mild disappointment.

"Well that was admittedly disappointing. Now I will have to have my revenge. It has already been set in motion the moment that you set off out of your castle. Well,I was going to use you and your body to destroy your kingdom. I still can do it but I would have preferred you to be more willing however it seems not." He explained before coughing up a black apple. 

Princess Pheoshan gulped as she knew what was about to happen, well could guess that they were going to make her eat that apple and it would not keep any doctor away.

"Now you shall take a bite from my demon apple and fall back into the second Dream Hell. There you shall be put through torture after torture and the worst part; it us the fact that whatever happens in any Dream Hell happens to your real body. That means that you could easily die in any of the Dream Hells and if you survive and wake up you could still die recovering from your injuries." He explained.

Princess Pheoshan cocked her eyebrow.

"And if I refuse?" She asked. 

The Demon leaned in close, invading her personal space in the process. Despite every cell in her body screaming at her to run away as far as her legs could take her, her fear had left her incapable of moving.

"Then I will cause hell like you have never seen before. Then I will force you to watch as I raze your kingdom slowly down to the ground. I will then let you live long enough to witness me devouring every man, woman, child or animal that I can get my teeth into and make sure that they all know who is to blame." He threatened without taking a breath. 

He then licked her cheek.

Princess Pheoshan closed her eyes to keep them from betraying her anger and fear as she let the fact that he had beaten her sink in. She felt herself slowly move towards the apple. She felt her hand shaking as she picked it up. Her whole body felt alien to her as she did. She raised the apple to her mouth and bit into it.

"Good, good girl, now do not fail to remember to eat the whole apple, including the seeds!" He sang as he licked her again and again. 

She nodded looking down as she wanted to hide her tears. She then ate and ate, forcing each bite down and passed the lump that was ever more increasing in her throat until the apple was in her stomach.

Her body collapsed and her mind was yet again locked away in a painful sleep.