15 February 2024

This is a direct follow-up to the second scene here. This really will be for the basis of the whole rest of the book. I think; even the antagonist, Mela, is likely to get canned. But this is what the focus of Kyra’s story is.

Though I will, of course, re-write and edit it and all that.

The old demon found Kyra on the roof of the [Mezzer] building. He wasn’t particularly surprised; her predecessor had always favored high places, as had many of the young saintesses, the current incarnation included. “So. What happened?”

Kra started and looked up at him. If she only just noticed his presence, she must have been deep in thought, indeed. “It is late. You would usually be with miss Brinja. Not to mention your claws; those don’t just form spontaneously, you know.”

“So… it is blood, then, after all. That fuels the demon king’s powers.” Kyra’s voice sounded dead.

The old demon’s curiosity piqued even further. What exactly had she done? And why? “No. At least, not directly. But many of the simplest and most visceral ways to inspire fear involve blood, and a great deal of it.”

Kyra’s eyes widened. “Fear.”

“Indeed. And while the stunt you pulled to get up here certainly shocked a number of people, it wouldn’t have resulted in that.” He gestured to her claws. “So, again. What happened?”

With a sigh, Kyra leaned back. “I… I messed up. With all the shit that’s been going on–the church, Mela, this whole damned city–I got stressed. Figured cutting loose one night wouldn’t hurt. Then a bunch of dumbasses saw a drunk lady stumble out of a bar, and…” She snorted and flexed the claw. “Back in our time, we weren’t exactly taught to hold back, you know?”

The old demon nodded. That was honestly one thing he did not miss from the era of the previous demon king. Even far from the demon realm, the world had operated on a “kill or be killed” mentality. Kyra may even have been lauded a hero back then; however, in the modern era… “I take it someone reported you to the cops?”

Kyra shrugged. “Dunno. Didn’t stick around long enough to find out. After… after…” She collapsed in on herself. “Brinja started to get worried you see. It was getting late, and she hadn’t heard from me. So she decided to go out and make sure I was okay.”

“Ah.” It clicked. Why the young demon king was here, and not at home.

“The look on her face… It felt like I was back at that night at my farm all over again. Only this time… This time I was the demon.”

Rather than replying, the old demon simply sat next to her and let his legs dangle over the side. Kyra swept her gaze over the city, at all the people rushing to and fro even at this late hour. “I don’t belong in this world.”

5 November 2023

Their little campfire burned low, barely enough to cook on. Considering how deep they were into demon territory, it would probably have been better to do without completely, but none of them really pushed the issue.

Caldwell was telling them about some yearly festival they had back in his hometown, but Kyra was only half listening. Instead, she watched Gavin and Fera carefully. There was an odd tension between the two. Gavin’s jaw had been clenched all evening, and he didn’t sit next to Fera like he’d been doing. For her part, Fera shrank into herself, and she couldn’t stop fiddling with the engagement ring Gavin had given her. It was the exact opposite of how Kyra expected them to react after Gavin finally popped the question.

She knew Caldwell had been trying to ease the tension in his own way but it didn’t seem to make a significant difference. So as soon as there was a lull, she interrupted his story. “So what the hell is going on with the two of you? You’re acting like someone died, not like you just got engaged.”

“Actually, I… I turned him down.”

Kyra blinked slowly. She looked down at the ring Fera was fiddling with, then back up to her face. “What.”

Fera’s shoulders curled in even tighter. With no small trace of bitterness in his voice, Gavin said, “Tell them. They’re your friends. They have a right to know.”

At his words, Fera’s hands clenched tight. Kyra’s own stomach twisted,, but she never took her eyes off of Fera. For several long moments, no one spoke.

When Fera finally did speak, her voice cracked. “I… Even if everything goes well, I… I won’t be coming back. Even if the demon king dies, he’ll just come back. We have to seal him up, and to do that, I… I have to seal myself in with him.”

By the time she finished speaking, tears dripped down her cheeks. Despite that, still, she smiled, small and soft.

Kyra couldn’t tell if her thoughts had frozen in place, or if she was thinking so many things at once it all bled into nothingness. Once she’d started to calm down, her thoughts flickered to a desolate homestead, long ago. To the bloodied face her her dear husband, Roylan. To the immobile bodies of her two sons.

It was happening again. She’d finally healed enough to reach out to other people, to care about other people again, and she was going to lose them. And once more, there was nothing she could do about it.

She barely noticed the roar of anguish that tore through her throat, or the crack as she hurled one of her prized axes into the nearest tree. By the time her mind cleared, her own cheeks were wet, and she collapsed to her knees.

Kyra thought back to the bastards at the church, the ones sitting pretty on their thrones, while they sent a young girl–barely even nineteen–to give up her life for them. “Damn them. Damn them all.”

29 April 2023 Notes

No main story for this date; I only brainstormed.

I am wiped. I did get the major assignment for my marketing class finished, though.

So where do I go today, then? It’s late and I want to keep this short… What else do I know or can I see about the Goddess of Battle story?

As I thought about it more, the idea of a modern fantasy take on the world when Kyra wakes up might not be so bad. Fit the aesthetic I first pictured her as… but I’m not sure.

jDon’t really have time to consider how the world evolved during her timeskip, though. Do I want to write about beating the demon lord in the first place? What did happen? Did they manage to knock him unconscious? Did they kill him, but his death wasn’t supposed to be permanent for some reason? …I like that. Did Kyra steal that ability from him somehow?

Who else was in the party? Kyra was a fighter/melee type; Fera was the cleric/healer priestess type; was there a prince? …Not likely. Probably a rogue–might even be Fera’s love interest–and a tank. Big knight/paladin type…

Decided I’m going to count my brainstorming today as my writing. So I’ll keep at it a little bit longer. Kyra was definitely not the leader; that was probably Fera, or maybe her and the paladin both. I’m thinking the paladin is surprisingly easy going, and soft-spoken. The sturdy, supportive type.

The rogue, though… What kind of rogue is he? Explicitly Robin Hood-y, or does he (try to) play everything off as for his own benefit? Considering the risks involved with facing this demon king, if he were truly selfish I don’t think he’d be there, but I don’t want him to just be a standard rogue, either. Hmm… Is he actually a cop with a roguish skill set? I’ll have to ponder that idea more…

What bits about the past, of Kyra’s mortal life pre-sealing, are actually relevant to the story? Defeating the demon king, of course, and losing her family. Does her dynamic with the other party members affect the present timeline at all? Or Kyra’s choices here? I’ll have to think on that…