P.C. Cast - Mysteria Nights

Once upon a time in a land closer than anyone might be comfortable with, a demon high lord was sent to destroy a small, starving (and, lets face it, weird) band of settlers who were fleeing the last town theyd tried to settle in (a place eventually known as Kansas City, Missouri, the Show Me State, which did indeed show them tar and feathers and the road west). The group was composed of magical misfits and outcasts: a bloodaphobic vampire, a black-magic witch and her white-magic husband, a pack of amorous (translation: hump-happy) werewolves, and a man named John, who had gotten confused and joined the wrong wagon train. When the demon spied this ragged, rejected bunch, he (for a reason known only to himself but which had to do with uncontrollable random acts of kindness) decided not just to spare them but to create a magical haven for them.

And so, nestled in a beautiful valley in the Rocky Mountains, the town of Mysteria was founded. Over the years, it became a refuge for creatures of the night and those unwanted by traditional society. No oneor thingwas turned away. Magic thrived, aphrodisiacs laced the pollen, and fairy tales came true.

The first settlers eventually died (those that werent already dead or undead, that is), but they left pieces of themselves behind. The vampire invented a powerful blood-appetite suppressant for any other vampires with a fear of blood. The witch and the warlock created a wishing wella wishing well that swirled and churned with both white and black magic, a dangerous combination. The hump-happy werewolves left the essence of perpetual springtime and love (translation: they peed all around the boundary of the city, so that everyone or thingthat entered or left Mysteria was, well, marked). John, the only nonmagical being in the group, left his confused but mundane genes, founding a family that would ultimately spawn more humans of nonmagical abilities who remained in Mysteria because finding their way out was just too much like geometry.

Each of the settlers thought, as their spirits floated to the heavensall right, some of them went straight to hell, the naughty sinnersthat their best contribution to the fantastical town of Mysteria was a happily-ever-after for their descendants. If only they could have known the events that would one day unfold . . .

For my three children:

Connor and Courtney (the human ones)

and Tala (the furry one).

All my love.

The dirty, sweat-soaked demon dropped to his knees. His hands, bound at the wrists with chains, rested awkwardly at the small of his back. Nevertheless, he formed his mouth into a smile he hoped appeared as contrite as his posture. Tis better if you do not infuriate the boss any more than you have already, he thought. I am prepared to pay for my transgressions, Master.

And pay for them, you shall! The Devils forked tongue darted out to moisten thin, malice-curved lips. I have thought long and hard about your crimes, he hissed with the very faintest of lisps. Now, prepare to receive your sentence, Demon.

Aye, Master. All the demons were named Demon down here in Hell. To their master they were all but indistinguishable. Only Lucifer stood apart, with his trademark black goatee, the horns, the pitchfork, and the crimson suit. Proof that the whimsies of fashion in Hell had been at a standstill since the birth of time.

Fashion? Hells bells, didnt he have more important things to worry about? Like losing his head, or some other body part of which hed grown fond? The demon winced. His concentration simply wasnt what it used to be after the century of torture hed endured for his crimes. Or had it been two or three centuries that hed been paying for his terrible deeds? It had become difficult to keep track. Ah, but what was an extra century or two in the grand scheme of things? Hed existed for more than ten thousand years, tasked to bring the worst sort of doubt into the miserable, pitifully abbreviated lives of human beings. Far from being just any demon, he was a demon lord, and one of the most ancient of them all: the Demon High Lord of Self-Doubt and Second Thoughts, the bane of many a human failure, simpering creatures all too eager to listen to the fears that he could so easily plant in their weak minds. You cant, hed whisper until they believed it. You wont. Try, and you will surely fail.

Countless men who could have ruled the world had never stepped beyond their front doors because hed made them doubt their abilities, made them afraid to take chances, to risk failure. Nor were women any safer from his dark murmurings through the eons. Hed frightened countless wenches, silencing their voices by playing up their fears of sounding too shrill, too stupid, too . . . different.

Humanitys failureshed been the force behind so many of them. Until that fateful day when hed glimpsed true courage and couldnt bring himself to destroy it, giving the Will-to-Go-On to a small, starving band of settlers wandering in the snowy woods of the Rocky Mountains. He wasnt sure exactly why hed spared them, why hed given them the inner strength to push themselves until they reached warmth and shelter, but he hadand it had felt damned good, too. In fact, it had felt so damned good being good to the damned that he repeated the deed all around the globe, losing himself for years in a virtual frenzy of beneficence. That is, until he was finally caught red-handed in the midst of one of those random acts of kindness, a crime considered so heinous that Lucifer himself had marched upstairs and dragged him back down to Hell.

On the positive side, hed come out the other side with all his body parts intact, the important body parts, at any rate. It could have gone much worse for him. And perhaps it still would. The devil, as always, was in the details.

The demon bowed his head. Tell me what I must do to appease you, Master.

There will be no appeasement! None! There is but one fitting punishment for such atrocities. Banishment!

The demons head jerked up. Banishment?

Yes. The fiery red orbs that passed for Lucifers eyes narrowed to pulsing slits. I hereby banish you from Hell.

It cannot be! The demon had expected a reduction in rank, the loss of freedom to come and go as he pleased, perhaps, but permanent eviction? His salary, his benefitsphoosh, gone! Just like that. Hells bells, hed slaved ten thousand yearsfor nothing! Done the Devils deeds only to end up like this: out of date, out of use, and without a transferable retirement plan!

Is this truly to be forevermore? the demon almost croaked, knowing how the Devil so enjoyed toying with his minions.

Lucifer chuckled. Not really. I have made you mortal, as well.

Mortal . . . The mere word tangled around the demons tongue like a serving of snake entrails.

Never fear. Because of your newly finite life, you wont have many years to fret your fate. Consider it a favor for your years of service to the Dark Empire. Lucifer waved a clawed hand. No need to thank me.

A growl rumbled in the demons throat. Of all the many things hed like to give Lucifer at that moment, thanks was not one of them. Yet, something told him it wasnt mortality itself he needed to fear as much as the locale in which he would suffer it. Where am I to be sent?

Why, to the very epicenter of your initial act of kindness. Lucifer spat out that last word. Literally. A glob of moisture sizzled in one of the many fires burning deep within the bowels of the earth. Mysteria. I trust you remember the place.

He remembered it, all right. Remembered it all too well. The settlers hed helped had founded the village.