dumah's demons

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Dumahs Demons

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Copyright 2014 by Ami BlackwelderArtwork 2014 by Eloquent EnraptureEdited by Katherine Pine

Summary: The story of Dumah, Kians sister and how she becomes a Dark Angel

Dumahs Demons: An accompaniment novella to the AngelFire Chronicles

The Dark Night

Where are you Kian? I shouted as sweat from my attacker slid down his crunched hairy

knuckles and over my purpled lips. He punched me one last time before standing. Salty. I

heaved, but couldnt get enough breath to feel alive again.

His rusty smell lingered in the air, in my nostrils, on my skin. Hearing the hard clank of his

boots pound away from me rang in my ears. He would always be a part of me now. He got inside

of me so deep inside of me that I could never forget his violation.

Kian? I shivered. Even my brother couldnt rescue me. I lay alone in the dark, in the alley

somewhere in Manhattan, as one eye which hadnt swollen watched the gang that attacked me

meander off into the distance. They disappeared in seconds as if they had never come to me but

they had.

Before I fell unconscious I caught a glimpse of Kian twisted on the alley several yards from

me. With his back against the street, his arms lay over his head entangled as if they had tried to

grab something before he had been hit. His right leg curled up and over his left. He must have

struggled, like me. But he could never understand what I went through, this moment of blood

and violence would forever divide us.


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Blackness.

The Morning Light

Dumah, Dumah. I heard my name and felt my body shake. A dream? Had everything been a

bad dream? Awakening, I couldnt be sure. My arms hugged my knees and my head curved into

my chest, but at the sound of my name I released my grip. Then the alley came into view with a

bakery door to my left and a brick wall to my right. Kians lip had a rip from one end to the other

and his left eye bruised blue. Ice crystals formed on his fingernails. A side effect of his power

manifesting in his distraught state.

Dumah! Are you okay? His hazel eyes met with my coal black pupils. I could barely catch

my breath. I grabbed my elbow as I felt a drip of something cool brush my skin. A blood drop.

Let me help you. Kian stretched his palm over my wrist as he helped me balance to my feet. A

sharp sting pierced my ribs and my thigh felt sore. I wobbled like a drunk man. I wish I had been

drunk, but even alcohol couldnt erase the last eight hours.

My purpled lips quivered as I stumbled out from behind the alley to the busy road. Even at

seven in the morning this city could stomp on the best of them. Kian looked so lost, so confused

when he stared at me in front of the Fresh-O bakery shop. I could see his mind spinning with

what-if scenarios.

What if he hadnt wanted a loaf of pumpernickel at eleven at night? What if he could have

broken free from the man who held him away from me? What if he could have used his power?

What if he hadnt been surprised? What if he could have saved me before the large man raped

me? Too many what-ifs, not enough action.

Do you want a coffee? I know how you love your carmel latte. Ill get you one, Kian saidbefore he vanished inside of the bakery. I heard the bell chime when the door opened, then

looked up and caught my reflection in the window.

As Kian fumbled with change in his back pocket, I repulsed at the image before me. A slash

from the tip to the end of my brow hung over my eye, from the knife blade used. Blood crusted

my chin and ear. Blue and purple bruises puffed on a cheek and under one eye. My torn clothes

had been stained with dirt, blood, and sweat...the sweat, that rusty, sweaty smell caught my

memory like a hook in a fish and brought it all back to me.

A sliver of moon dangled in the dark sky as everything around me turned black. Laughter

permeated the alley as the local gang Loco took turns hitting or screwing. Hope for Kian

shriveled and died a bit each moment until there remained no hope for him to save me at all. Hewouldnt rescue me. No one would be coming. Only blackness choked me now.

A push jarred me back to the bakery shop, to today, the day after. Someone bumped me on the

sidewalk and when I looked up I only saw a checkered shirt. Jerk. I wouldnt become invisible. I

screamed. The cacophony hit the walls of the shop, bounced down the street and echoed in the

alleys. People stared at me like I had become a monster, but the monster had already been here

and left and they all missed him.


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When Kian jerked his head in my direction I realized the sound came from me. I closed my

mouth when Kian handed me the coffee and never spoke to him again. He didnt ask if I was

okay then. He didnt ask me anything. He knew, like I knew. Nothing would ever be okay again.

I sipped the coffee as Kian dabbed a wet napkin to my chin. When the paper towelette became

saturated with crimson color he tossed it into the bin next to the shop door and my eyes focused

on a sixteen year old guy in a black leather jacket.

The Meet

He approached us in record speed without avoiding my eyes or veering out of my way. When

he reached the bakery door he smirked, and a wrinkle broke between my brows as a cautious

smile leered across my face. Something confident, yet mysterious, flowed from his pores like an

expensive perfume something I wanted to buy to cover up my stink.

Kian kept his heavy gaze on the stranger as he interacted with me. The stranger placed his

hand on the hot cup and then dipped his pinky into the steaming fluid before licking hissmoldering finger. In a city of people avoiding me, this dangerous mess, this manthis stranger

wanted me close.

He leaned into my ear and whispered, Come with me and learn why youre different. I

froze. ...Why you can control the Earth with your mind, why you have a restless yearning inside

of you.

My coal colored pupils shot up at him and he smirked, I know who you are, what you are,

and Im here to teach you everything you need to survive. Ill protect you. Youre too powerful to

ever be a victim in this city of sin.

The words protect and powerful rang in my ears as if no other words existed. Nothingmattered more than this power he spoke of, this power that could keep me safe. He knew what I

could do, how I felt. He must have been something more than human. Maybe I had been too. I

had to find out.

The stranger turned back toward the direction he came and a red stripe marked the back of his

leather jacket. Come, he whispered. His fingers signaled me to follow.

Where are you going? What did he say? Kian reacted in panic as my palm met with the

strangers shoulder and I moved in haste with him down the street.

You cant protect me anymore! My words hit Kian as he followed in anxious step behind us

for several blocks before a bus shooting down a cross street separated him from us. When Ilooked back I noticed we had taken a side street and Kian had disappeared.

Just like him to vanish on me.

The Journey

I didnt know this stranger from anywhere, but somehow I felt like I knew him all along, like


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we had been taken from the same mysterious mold. Funny. He might have answers to my

questions and I wanted, no needed, to know him.

Watching him with careful eyes, I didnt want to miss a thing. He moved so fast. We made it

several blocks before I even blinked... or so I felt. Just being near him I already felt better,

stronger, as if somehow the night prior could have never happened to girl like me, because she

would have never allowed it. I loved the way I felt near him.

Who. Are. You? The words came out suspended. I could hold them back no longer. I didnt

even realize I had said anything aloud until he answered.

Dameon.

Looking at him from the side, he appeared so regal and made everything seem so possible. A

world of possibilities, a world of power is exactly what I needed.

What are you? My eyes shot him up and down examining him for something hidden deep.

A better question would have been: what am I?

You will learn soon enough, He said with a suspicious grin.

Nothing about turning sixteen felt normal to me. The usual pubescence most teens underwent

the past years had been tampered in me by an urge to fly or run off into the wilderness. I couldnt

decide which feeling dominated me more. I couldnt see why me, a street kid most of my life

would care about either, but I did.

Then Dameon took me into the backstreet of some dance club named The Edge, where

music played most of the day and night. I couldnt understand why at first as the street looked

much like every other, dingy and dangerous with a trash can on each corner, but when he opened

a cracking wood door against the same brick wall as the nightclub and ducked into a stairwell

leading underground I found my answers.

The stairs must have spiraled a block downward, and I wiped a spiderweb out of my way.

Where are we going? My eyes shot around the damp, cold and dark cellar, and when we finally

reached the last step I hopped onto a hard floor. Dameon? I couldnt see him at first, until he

turned my direction and silvery pupils like a sliver of moon haunted me.

The Mystery

Its alright, Dumah.

I froze. How do you know my name?I know a lot about you. Ive been watching you.

Watching me? Shivers shot up my arms. Then he took my hand and said, come, there is no

reason to be afraid. You are like me, Dumah.

Like him? I knew I had to be something more than human. I always felt a strange energy

within me, but what I didnt know...


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He led me further into the underground of The Edge. At first when we walked I could hear a

sound: thump...thump-thump-thump-thump, but the farther we walked the less the music pounded

until only the sounds of silence remained.

How am I like you? Questions raced in my mind, making me dizzy. What are you? What

am I?

It is better if I show you. He walked under a crack of light from the ceiling and the shadows

formed around him made him appear bigger than before, but I kept my eyes on his silver dots.

Look at me, Dumah. Open your eyes and see.

I blinked and then he became something more. Majestic raven black feathers protruded from

his sides, wings sprouted and fluffed up and down as his eyes glowed in what seemed like an

endless stream of perfection.

What...you...how? I didnt know quite what to ask as my senses tried to make sense of the

nonsensical.

He flapped once and the wingspan opened from one side of the cellar room to the other,covering about fifteen feet in total. The thin layer of light from the ceiling spread over him like a

twinkling star, not all at once. What I thought had been shadows had been a new form, something

Id never seen before and I trembled.

Im like you?

Yes, Dumah. You too will soon grow wings and you too possess a power.

That word again. Every time he spoke it I felt like I had grown stronger.

What kind of power?

For each of our kind the power is different. In you the gift emerges in the ability to move thewoodlands with your mind. This is why you are drawn to the forests.

And your power?

He lifted his hand upright and his palm began to glow red-orange. A blot of energy shot out of

him and hit the ceiling, causing a spark and then a small fire until the spark dropped to the floor

and died. I command fire.

I watched the fire become nothing in a half daze, mesmerized.

We have other gifts too, Dumah. Your muscles will soon grow and you will be stronger than

when human. You will have the ability to move faster.

I could have easily become drunk on the words stronger, faster, wings, gifts...everything I

needed to protect myself, to ensure I would never be attacked again.

Then Dameon ushered me forward, his warm palm on my shoulder. Follow me and I will

show you the world. Anything you want will be yours.

The Guardians


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We walked farther into the darkness of the cellar beneath the club. I had almost forgotten we

wandered underground until I heard the music permeating the ceiling again. That incessant

thump-thump-thump-thumprung in my ears until Dameon showed me behind a steel door at what

seemed to finally be the end of an exhaustively long hall.

Come, he said as he rolled his finger and I scurried behind him. Behind the door I saw a

large and dimly lit room. White bricks arranged in a semi-circle comprised the ceiling. A

chandelier made of dark metal and candles hung from the center of the room. More candles sat

against the far left and far right walls, while lanterns sat on the hard floor arranged in a straight

line on either side of the chandelier.

My eyes fixed on a strange shadow in one corner of the room and then, out of the side of my

eye, movement in another corner grabbed my attention. I heard the door squeak shut behind me

and I jumped. Then Dameon took my hand in his palm.

Everything is fine, Dumah. You are finally home.

Home? The thought of ever having a place I could run to and be safe fled from me long ago

somewhere after my first beating at the orphanage and just before I ran away with Kian from our

foster family.

Dameon spread his elegant wings and I felt the air cut in half and rush over me, a fluttering

symphony filled my ears with ease and, somehow, familiarity. He had become the most beautiful

being I had ever seen.

You are with family here. Dameon met with my eyes, his shiny slivers penetrating my

heart. He rolled his finger again, signaling for the shadows to come into the light of the candles.

As they moved forward, I felt myself take a deep breath. I barely heard their feet move against

the floor, but their shadows made sure advances. As they approached the light, more and more oftheir shape came into view. First, a tall silhouette, and then strangely feathered creatures with

human faces and blue eyes appeared. The grey-black color of their wings expanded throughout

the room, filling the empty space with a sense of fullness. Long blonde hair twisted from braids

lay over the females shoulders and the crimson color of her gown made me feel under-dressed.

Both carried some kind of object. One female and the other a male. But gender made no

difference, because they could have been twins in their identical physical features.

Culsu and Culsan guard the doors to the underworld. Dameon caressed my neck with his

fingers. My vigilant eyes shot up at the male, Culsan, first noticing his long nose and pale skin,

then a curious glance shot to the female, Culsu. She hissed and revealed a set of sharp teeth.

Dameon brushed his fingers through the back of my hair and said, but there is no need to fearthem as they are here only to protect your home from intruders.

He smiled, but I hesitated to move forward when he walked toward the other door at the

opposite end. I never felt more curious and more intoxicated with a need for answers, answers to

which I knew he could give, and yet for a moment a memory of Kian flew into my mind and I

found myself sitting on the edge of his bed in the orphanage singing our song, something we

learned from the nursery:


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Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight,

Bright angels beside my darling abide.

They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast.

They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast.

In the middle of the last line, I felt a tug on my hand and my mind ripped back to the present.

The Power

I know what you need. Dameon confidently walked over to Culsu and grabbed the wooden

staff from her hands. He twirled the object while he glided back to me as if performing a circus

act. You need to see what you can do here, what I can teach you. He threw the staff into the air

so high the wood hit the ceiling before returning to his hands. Use your mind. Return this

wooden stick to the owner.

I stared at the solid wood in Dameons hands and repeated my silent mantra: to Culsu, toCulsu. Frustration hit when five minutes later I still had not moved anything.

I cant control this stupid gift at will. Always comes when I dont need it. I ground my teeth

and bit my lip so hard blood drops fell to the floor.

Concentrate, Dameon almost demanded and wiped the blood from my lip with his pinky

before licking his finger. You must focus with everything. All your powers will come in time.

I tried again, focusing on Culsu and then on the staff and then on Culsu until the staff

levitated in Dameons closed fist and began to shudder. I closed my eyes and could only see the

arrow-pointed staff in his hands. That single picture became my life. Shaking up and down in

chaotic vibration, the staff finally broke Dameons grip and flew out of his hands and intoCulsus.

My eyes popped open and I felt a rush of power surge through me.

Again. Dameon glared at Culsan and he tossed Dameon his staff. When I felt the soft wood

hit my palm I knew I would never be the same. Fly this to the ceiling. Hit the highest point.

Dameons forefinger pointed at the center of the white bricked surface when his heavy glance

fell over me.

I wanted to please him, but more than that I wanted to be powerful as he believed I could be

and so I focused on the ceiling and then the staff as before, but now in seconds the arrow shaped

wood twisted into the air and flung skyward. The wood smashed against the white brickshattering in two and shards fell to the floor.

A crooked grin crossed Dameons face and his almond pupils sparkled. He engulfed me

within his wings and took me into his chest. His heartbeat pounded bumb bumb-bumb bumb,

strong like an ox, and his milky perfumed body filled my senses. I closed my eyes for a moment

when stubble from his chin brushed my cheek and in his arms I finally felt completely safe. I

may not have known what lay behind the next set of doors, but I knew Dameon wanted or


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perhaps needed me with him, with a need perhaps similar to my own.

Come, come, he said as if I hadnt really been approved for secrets until now and, with his

arm around my neck and hand gripped tight on my shoulder, he ushered me to the door on the

opposite wall. Culsu rushed to the next entrance with a set of large keys jingling in her fitted

hands while her form floated like a sail on water. Blonde ringlets disappeared behind me after

Dameon squeaked the door open, and when I found myself on the other side the door slammed

shut.

Darkness broke with slices of light from lanterns on the thick cavern walls. A large oak table

with six chairs on either side sat in the middle of the room. Two candles rested on each end of the

table. Dameon pulled out a chair and gestured for me to sit.

Closer

He slid in a chair beside me, his soft breath tickling my chilly skin, unique eyes undressing

me. When his large hands met mine over the table I could have blushed if I had been a sweeterkind of girl. Long fingers raked through my dark tresses and our eyes followed each others for

several minutes before he spoke.

You are ready to know who we are, who you are Dumah.

Yes, I am. I bit my lip and a drop of blood from the prior wound dripped onto the glossy

wood table.

We are those abandoned by everyone, living underneath because we are not a part of the

world. We posses powers beyond what any human can fathom and we do not answer to anyone.

Tell me. Say it. A tinge of demand pervaded my tone.

See, there are two kinds of us. The Angelfire and the Dark Angels. The Angelfire believe the

world is on their side and do everything to help the mere mortals. Dark Angels know better. We

understand the humans are dangerous to us, and only want to take what we have.

But how...when did this power come to us?

From the beginning of our death. You died that day in the car with your parents when you

were just two. Kian died too. The powers beyond fated your death to be too soon and so you and

Kian breathed again, but this time as something more.

So, Kian is like me? His name hung on my tongue like an unusual taste I couldnt be sure I

wanted to try again.No. Dameon declared firm. He doesnt understand us, you, your desires, your needs. He

still believes the world is a place worth saving. You know better. You are better. You are one of

us.

You keep saying us, but Ive only ever seen you and two others? Are there more?

Yes, Dumah, there are many. We stay hidden underground where we are safest. At night


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sometimes we emerge.

For how long has your kind been down here?

For hundreds of years, but I have only been here for for a short time.

What do you mean? You have not always been a Dark Angel?

I lived in Washington. At one, my mother had a car accident and died. Much like with what

happened to you, but I had been spared. I lived in foster homes in Washington until sixteen when

I left for New York where I soon met my real father.

Your real father?

Yes, his name is Azrael. He watched over me in Washington from a distance. In New York

he finally revealed himself to me when my powers began to manifest. He told me what I was and

brought me here to my home. He rules over our kind in this city. Many cities have a flock. Every

flock has a ruler.

So, he left his flock in Washington?They followed him here.

Powers come at sixteen? This is why I started feeling mine some months ago?

Yes, and very soon you will feel more. Every day your powers will grow and the more you

use them, the stronger they become. But...

I shot him an inquiring eye with a wrinkle in my forehead. But what?

But you always have to be careful to never reveal what you are to any human. I told you the

human world is dangerous to us and if they ever find out who we are we lose power.

We lose everything?

Not everything, but there are rules to our kind.

Rules? My eyes widened.

Rule one, if we physically harm a human, we lose Gift Power.

Gift power?

Every Dark Angel has a different gift. Your gift is of manipulating wood. My curiosity

circled to Culsu and Culsan. Rule two, if we are intimate with a human, we lose Wing Power.

I figured he meant his literal wings would diminish. Rule three, if we are discovered by a

human, we lose Essence Power.What does that mean?

Our essence gives us our overall strength. The more humans who know of our existence, the

less powerful we become. The less strength we have. The slower we move.

I flinched in the thought of becoming weaker. Rule four, if a leader is discovered by a

human, the entire flock loses Essence. Rule five, if a leader is killed, the entire flock loses all


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power.

This is why you live underground. Why Azrael made this a home?

Yes, and why humans are dangerous to us. If they ever knew of our existence, not only

would we become weaker...they would hunt us down like animals. They have in the past

centuries ago. Azrael has all the stories of our ancestors in the sacred books. I wanted to ask himmore about the sacred books, but he continued with the seemingly never ending rule list.

Rule six, if an Angelfire is dying, he may transpose his wings to a human, giving his Essence

and Gifts. Rule seven, if a Dark Angel kills humans, forfeiting his Gifts, he will develop fangs.

Rule eight, if a Dark Angel is intimate with humans, forfeiting his Wings, he will develop fur.

Why the separate rules for seven and eight? Why is seven simply not a part of rule one?

How intuitive. Yes, the rules would seem to make more sense that way; however, the rules

divide the difference between an Angelfire and a Dark Angel. If an Angelfire breaks rule two he

simply looses his gifts, but a Dark Angel acquires another ability. See, Dumah, we are the

stronger of the angel clans.

I mulled over the rules for a bit. So, killing a human to regain Essence would be better, even

if we lose our gift?

Dameon stood and clarified, Think of your Essence as your heart, mind and body. The more

Essence you have, the stronger overall you are in a fight. Gift power is like an extra power, you

dont need it to live and fight. You must have strong Essence to win however. His hand slid over

my shoulders, but you havent really lost your gift if youve traded them for fangs. He rubbed

them. You want to be a part of our family, dont you Dumah?

I couldnt say no now even if I wanted to, I had gone in too deep. But nothing inside of my

wanted anything more than what they offered.

Yes.

Then it is time to meet my father.

I had never been the family type. Years of orphanage beatings hardened any sweetness inside

of me and six years on the streets of New York after running away from my latest foster family

shaped me into more of a warrior and survivor than any kind of girl a man would want to take

home to meet the parents, but Dameon and this underworld gave me some kind of strange

opportunity at something I had missed.

The Father

When the crimson colored door on the left squeaked open slowly I knew I would be seeing

someone or something I had never seen before, and surely never again. Red eyes lit the darkness

behind and around the mysterious shadow. The shape moved in steady steps away from the door

and toward me, each step more into the light of the candle on the table. At first his wrinkled

hands came into view, and then pale skin, followed by flowing white hair. When he stood before


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me his black wings, crested with grey along the ends, opened up from behind him and flitted up

and down a few times over the table before resting to his sides.

I am Azrael. His voice sounded like a thousand drums beat against a cement floor.

I stood. Dumah.

My son is very fond of you. He glanced at me briefly before spotting Dameon. Why dont

you show her to our quarters. She will be more comfortable there.

When Dameons skin glistened I began to understand his dark angel expressions. Excitement

made his eyes sparkle when I tore the staff from his hands and hit the ceiling. Happiness made

him exuded a certain glow.

Dameon kept his right palm on the nape of my neck as he guided me forward to the crimson

door. Azrael followed closely behind until the door slammed shut as all doors did in this

underground and then he lagged while Dameon walked with me hand in hand down a corridor

made of grey bricks. We passed several doors on both sides before Dameon opened a door on the

right. Darkness in the hall kept me from seeing farther down, but I felt a draft of air andimagined the hallway stretched farther than where we ended.

My room, Dameon said proudly and I took a slow step inside a space that glowed dimly in

gray neon light.

I will leave you two and see you in the morning, I heard Azrael say with approval before he

disappeared somewhere down the hall.

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