Beginning of a Nightmare

Another week had passed, and now Fan Yusheng was able to walk around the house of the bird clan, Niaochao. It was hidden behind the mountains that were not so far from Hongtu and where Shuikeyi used to stand. The house was actually a palace, complete with high ceilings and golden linings and ornaments. The walls were either cream or majestic crimson in color. The carpets seemed regularly lint by the seemingly unseen workers. With Niao Yi as her guide and guard, the newly reborn bird demon examined her new world in a three-hour tour around Niaochao.

"And that's the last of the rooms you need to know. I can't believe I was demoted because of you." Niao Yi sighed as he finished leading her around the huge house. "I was so close to being one of Yemaozi's guards."

"I thought being the consort's guard was an honor?" Fan Yusheng frowned at the man, recalling what he uttered when the position was bestowed upon him.

"What do you expect me to do? Decline it in front of Yemaozi?" Niao Yi protested as he spun of his heel and whipped out his hands in front of her. He then shook his head with a hand against his forehead. "Listen here, we all might refer to him by his name, but that does't mean none of us had anything but utmost respect towards him. Even though some of us had defected to the human kingdoms, he managed to bind the bird clan together."

"Defected?" Fan Yusheng hummed. She did not recall any demons taking the side of the humans.

Niao Yi burred at the idea of having to explain. "Since this Demon King assumed his father's throne, the demon nations had declined... to the point of the other clans defecting to the human kingdoms which economies are far better than ours." He took a deep breath before admitting second-hand embarrassment from his fellow demons. "Most of those demons who had similar forms to the domesticated animals ran off to the nearest breathing cities and lived off as one. Some other clans envied and it resulted to the so-called demon invasions.

"The cat clan had easily latched their claws on the humans, even getting treated as if gods." Niao Yi scratched as he tried his best to remember all the clans that defected. He started counting with his fingers, with the cat clan as the first. "Then, the dog clan even turned their own fangs against us. They loved the humans so much they stopped serving the Demon King. The bull clan, which used to be feared, even ran off to a breathing city and helped cultivated their lands. The wolf clan also lived nearby one to ensure preservation done by the humans. There are several others that left the Demon King's side.

"Others who were envious attacked the defected clans and the breathing cities they clung onto. Numerous times to ensure its destruction. What happened to Shuikeyi was one of those. The ugly winged demons attacked our breathing city in the pretense of the bird clan finally defecting as a whole." Niao Yi glared at his hand as if it was responsible for the destruction. "Yemaozi did invested a lot on the breathing city, but it was to keep it from dying. The breathing city and its citizens were our secret den of food and entertainment. Our boss never did plan on leaving the Demon King's side, and with Shuikeyi destroyed, we had no other choice but to suck up the Demon King's vanishing finances to develop another breathing city."

"Why take me from Hongtu then? I can make my village a breathing city!" Fan Yusheng gestured to herself with her hand almost slapping against her chest. "That was my plan all along!"

Niao Yi shifted his glare at the girl and argued with her some more. "Are you deaf? I said, other clans are attacking us- because they think having a breathing city- was a surefire flag that we're defecting! Building another just like that won't make any difference!" He sighed as he stared at the girl's surprised face. He then felt bad for yelling at her face. Niao Yi tried again, this time with patience. "Listen, Yusheng. This is the plan. We cement our loyalty to the Demon King by sending a consort. You take the Demon's King favors so we could get more finances and build another breathing city- without it being destroyed by the other winged clans."

"I still don't get why it should be me? You have fairly strong demons in your house, right?" Fan Yusheng snuffed, not letting her own speculations run wild if she could go ask. "Is there anything that only I could do?"

"Well, aside from being a wielder of extraordinarily strong magic, everyone else is just..." Niao Yi scratched his head, stammering as he forced to get the words out. "Well, everyone else is... scared of the Demon King. He cares too less about the nations, and as long as there won't be any... uhh, bloodshed, he was uninterested." The male bird demon stalled some more by making incoherent noises to replace his words. He then managed to get it out. "And, and your oasis magic might be enough to entertain him!"

Fan Yusheng stared at him in disbelief. Tearing her away from her beloved village was for her magic; she could even bet that they occupied Hongtu just so they could monitor her return. She remembered that the demons only invaded three months ago; might as well think that they were waiting for her to come home. She pressed a hand against her forehead. "I see." That was all she could say at the moment. There was nothing she could do for herself by then.

That was when a certain thought wrecked every concern she had for accepting. Being the consort who the Demon King favors could make her the strongest amongst the demonkind, stronger than Yemaozi who was only a baron of the bird clan. If she carefully pulled off her mission, she could stop the demons from attacking the human cities for good. It was a childish and unrealistic view, but her dream of turning her village into a breathing city had started the same way. It was worth the try.

Niao Yi, who was worried with her backing out, heard weird chuckling noises in front of him. He did not have to look around for any strange objects; the maker of the noise was the girl in front of him. Fan Yusheng was making a rather wicked face as she imagined commanding the demonkind despite not being an offensive magic user. The male bird used his palm to knock her off the trance without force.

Fan Yusheng blushed in embarrassment and cleared her throat. She then smiled with both hands pressed against each other. "Okay, I'll do it! What should I know about this Demon King?"

"Where did all that enthusiasm come from?" Niao Yi raised a brow before shaking his head as he raised a hand with the palm facing her. "No, don't answer that." He then beckoned her to follow him back to one the rooms they visited earlier. "One of the most known facts about the Demon King was that... he didn't have a name."

"What? What do the demons- I mean we- call him?" Fan Yusheng twitched, stopping on her spot. She then had to grab the hem of her red hanfu just to run and catch up with her guard. "Why didn't he have a name?"

"No one knows." Niao Yi stopped and turned to see her catching up with his rather fast pace. He watched her strut her hanfu made of red satin with white and golden flower brocade. Also her smooth legs visible by the height she was holding up her hanfu. He then looked away. "Humans walk so slowly, don't they?"

"You'll be walking with me a lot. Learn my pace." Fan Yusheng pouted as she dropped the hem and patted the dress to relieve the creases. She then began walking next to Niao Yi again, who slowed down his walking pace to match hers. "So he just gets called Demon King by everyone?"

"Yeah. He didn't care as much as everyone else didn't. So we just call him that, and he responds to it." The guard stopped at a room and opened the door for Fan Yusheng. He waited for her to get inside before getting in as well. He closed the door behind him. He gestured at the portraits of the Demon King in Niaochao's tribute room. "This is the current Demon King. He was born twenty years ago, through the seventh consort of his father. He was the only royal child that the previous did not kill. They said it was because the previous king saw great potential in him."

He led her to look at another portrait, one of the two ladies on the wall. "That is Cheng Lamei, the first consort of the Demon King. She's seductive and arrogant. Don't argue with her; I have a feeling you might end up jinxing the bird clan." He momentarily squinted at the girl who might be not listening or planning to heed his advice soon. "She's from the horned clan of demons, so she has those big black swirled horns on her head. She's a magic wielder like you, even though we don't know what she can do."

Niao Yi pointed at the second lady mounted on the wall. "That is Zhao Mouye, the second consort of the Demon King. She's rowdy and quite the brawling type. She's a physical fighter, but you won't see it unless she transforms into her demon form." He warned her again. "Don't incite her rage." He went back to the painting. "She's from the armored clan of demons. You would notice it from her arms if ever you'll get the chance to see them."

The male turned to her, having no more portraits to show. "Aside from the bird clan, two more clans will be sending their representatives. The multiple-eyed clan, and the tailed clan." He snuffed in nervousness. "From the sound of it, it was only the bird clan who sent a representative despite not being fully demon in blood. Normally, the kings would prefer and favor those from full-demon clans rather than the beast demon clans like us. You might have to work harder."

"Don't worry. I have a little tip from my mother!" Fan Yusheng chuckled as she tried to be smug about it. Her left arm was crossed under her chest with her right elbow resting on the left hand, with the right hand wiggling a finger. "The best way to get to a man's heart is through his stomach!"

"But seriously, full-demons are carnivorous. They would probably not enjoy those watermelons of yours." Niao Yi waved his hand, dismissing her confidence. "Catching a duck and cooking it would be better than offering fruits."

The woman brought her hand down to her other elbow. She squinted at him. "Aren't ducks part of the bird family?"

"It's not cannibalism for us unless that's a duck demon. That would taste really bad." Niao Yi tilted his head to the side. "How much do you really know about demons? I'm starting to doubt your chances of survival."

"I can learn on the job. Don't worry about me." Fan Yusheng tilted her head to the same side as Niao Yi before flashing a smile. "Besides it's your problem if they tried killing me, right?"

"How irresponsible."

After her little crash course, one of the senior female bird demons took her away for her consort training. Despite being known as brutes, the demonkind still had etiquettes and intricacies. She also had to know so much about the history of the bird demons and their connections to the full demons and the crown. She also had lessons about a few topics she learned in magic school: the five foundations of kingdoms namely military, agriculture, economics, labor, and finance. Only that they were more centered on the different demon nations that the Demon King had neglected.

These things were outside of Niao Yi's lectures. The female senior discuss the difference of demon nations to breathing cities and beast demon clans. Unlike the exclusive beast demon clan houses, demon nations were made up different full demon clans. The nations were only divided through their use of resources and the nature of their habitats. Then again, they were never called the volcano demons or the swamp demons; doing so would cause grave offense.

After the whole day of learning, Fan Yusheng was walked by Niao Yi to her room. The oasis wielder covered her yawn with the wide sleeve of her hanfu. She then moved her shoulders as if avoiding to have them stiffened due to minimal action. She then turned to her guard who was walking next to her.

"Niao Yi," -she called his name softly, earning his shocked reaction- "what kind of place will we be staying at when I meet the Demon King?"

"It's called the Huanjing Castle. It's pretty neat for a castle with diminishing value. Actually, the last repairs were made ten years ago, before the previous king died." He rubbed his neck, thinking about the place. "It gets attacked a lot, but only because the Demon King bothered not to raise the shields of the demon nations from the magic wielders. They said the Demon King invites them to the castle to slaughter them himself." He sighed. "There's too much risk in sending a representative, but there's so much to earn when the consort gets selected."

"Is Niao Yi worried about me?" Fan Yusheng hummed.

"I have to worry about you. It's my neck on the line, too, you know." Niao Yi knocked her again with his open palm. "Geez, you think you're cute like that? The Demon King might get annoyed a lot."

"Well, at least he will remember me." The woman pouted a little before replacing it with a smile. "We'll be leaving tomorrow. For some reasons, I feel excited. Then again, our trip to Huanjing Castle is not for fun."

"Nah, you should have fun at least. Who knows when we'll die..." The man popped her balloon again as he opened the door to her room, and checked if someone had gone inside just by standing at the doorway. After inspecting, he gestured for her to go inside. "Good night, Yusheng."

"Good night, Niao Yi." She smiled at him, receiving a shallow bow before he stood guard outside the door. She closed the door behind her, locking in as she sighed aloud.

The woman stripped off of her hanfu and put on a thin white slip. She went under the covers and got into a comfortable position. Tomorrow awaited for her deal to play. Worrying about her chances would cause nothing but panic; and she had not seen her competitors in person yet. Besides, it was not like she was doing it for herself. The lives in Hongtu were on her hands, and only her success would save them. Deeper troubles came to visit Fan Yusheng in her sleep, but she did not open her eyes. It was not the time to cry anymore.