Chapter 40

  Drakkel felt a pit form in his stomach as his heart began to race.

  That couldn't be right.

  He shook his head. “Grand master... You must be mistaken. For as long as I can remember, I've been raised my master. If I were part demon, wouldn't there have been signs?”

  Taliyah Raven sighed and lowered her head. “I know, it’s surprising. I didn’t believe it at first. But, when I assisted your mother in giving birth and she, with tearful eyes told me that your father was a demon… Well…”

  She paused for a moment.

  “You have a birthmark on your upper right back don’t you?”

  Drakkel slowly nodded.

  “That is the proof of your demonic heritage.”

  Drakkel laughed a little. “It’s just a birthmark- an ordinary one. How could it be proof?”

  “Didn’t it used to irritate you when you were little?” Taliyah Raven asked.

  Drakkel was speechless for a moment, thinking on how to answer. When he thought for a bit, he replied, "My master said so, but I don’t remember it myself…It might have been because—”

  Taliyah Raven interjected, “Tell me, What sort of birthmark could bother a person to the point of tears?”

  Drakkel could say nothing to refute her. After all, he didn't know much about it himself. His memories from back then were so fuzzy, they might as well have been non-existent.

  Seeing as he did not have an answer, Taliyah Raven continued, “There’s a reason that you have no demonic energy…”

  Drakkel found everything she was saying to be unbelievable. He wanted to leave and pretend he had heard nothing, but his body was still, firmly planted in its seat as he listened to what she had to say.

  “There’s a poison that can suppress demonic energy that’s available only to the demon royal family. Your master received it from the person who dropped you off as a baby and regularly fed it to you through the foods he made while you were little.”

  So all those concoctions his master made... that was the reason? In fact, they were the only things Drakkel could stomach when he was sick… could it be that his sickness was not natural in origin and had something to do with his demonic energy?

  Drakkel shook his head, struggling to absorb what was being said as she continued, “Your mother disappeared after giving birth to you. I didn’t know what happened to her and her baby until a mysterious person left you with my disciple...”

  Drakkel felt like the world was swirling around him, yet his outer appearance was steadfast. He truly wanted to deny it, but his master had sent him here and had refused to tell him anything. At this point, why would his Grand Master lie?

  He wanted to know more. “Who exactly were my parents and what happened to them?”

  Taliyah Raven sighed. “Your mother was Immortal beauty, shooting star, Arcadia Luma and your father was Demon Prince Fal-On.”

  Drakkel’s vision began to spin.

  Demon Prince? Immortal beauty? It couldn’t be possible.

  He needed time to think.

  With head hung low and his fists clenched, he quickly said. “Let’s not speak of this anymore. Can we continue with the treatment of my poison?”

  Taliyah Raven nodded. “As you wish.”

  She continued, “I will be using a combination of acupuncture and herb mixture to facilitate your treatment. The herb mixture will cure the ailment and the acupuncture will aid it in circulating through your body. It’s lucky for you that I came up with this treatment not long ago. I still haven’t had the time to write it down in an organized manner and have it published so I’m currently the only one who knows of it.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Drakkel nodded.

  She added, “And I must let you know, I can cure the poison of the Night Raising Flower, but I can’t cure the demonic poison. Since all it does is suppress your demonic energy, I wouldn’t rush to get rid of it anyway.”

  Drakkel nodded.

  Now that he thought about it further, it must have been true. His master asked if his birth mark had bothered him in the time he was gone and later he gave him food to eat. He really must have used the demon poison to suppress his demonic energy.

  Once the treatment was set up and the needles were put in place around Drakkel’s body, Taliyah Raven said, “I will call in Rillian Adore now. It isn’t kind to make him wait outside for any longer.”

  As she had told Drakkel to stay still during the treatment, he couldn’t even manage a nod. So he gave a slight blink of his eyes to let her know that he was alright with her decision. Once she confirmed it, she walked over to the door and called Rillian Adore in.

  Rillian Adore walked into the building a few minutes later. From his expression, Drakkel could tell that he had heard nothing of their conversation.

  This filled him with both a strong sense of relief and guilt.

  When Rillian Adore saw Drakkel he asked, “So this will cure the poison?”

  Taliyah Raven nodded. “It will.”

  Rillian Adore suddenly cupped his hands and deeply bowed to Taliyah Raven, his knees hitting the floor.

  “I’m very grateful for what you’ve done, Miss Taliyah Raven.” He said.

  Taliyah Raven put her hands up and waved them, “It is too much praise to receive from you. I was only doing my disciple a favor, there's no need to put in so much effort.”

  Rillian Adore, still bowing, said, “The reason he’s in his current condition might be because of me. I have to thank you properly.”

  “Lift your head.” Taliyah Raven said. “From your actions and expression, I can tell this wasn't your doing. You don’t need to take responsibility for something you haven't committed. Now stand straight and sit down. I don’t want your grand display of appreciation to disturb my grand disciple.”

  Rillian Adore nodded and quickly got up and took a seat. After an hour, Drakkel was finally permitted to move again.

  “This was only your first session.” Taliyah Raven said. “Because the poison was in your system for so long, we will need six more to completely eliminate it.”

  Drakkel nodded and Taliyah Raven continued. “I have a spare room, so you two can stay here.”

  “Thank you,” Rillian Adore replied.

  Drakkel was surprised. He had never seen Rillian Adore show such respect to anyone before.

  Taliyah Raven smiled and added. “And I do hope one of you can cook, because you won’t be staying here for free.”

  “I can…” Rillian Adore said.

  Drakkel couldn’t believe it. Rillian Adore can cook?

  Taliyah beamed. “The devotion! If I didn’t know any better I would assume you two to be brothers or lovers!”

  She laughed. “It’s good that my dear grand disciple has a loyal friend in you, Rillian Adore. I hope nothing ever changes that.”

  Rillian Adore’s eyes narrowed as he took up a serious expression. “I will never abandon him. You have my word.”

  Taliyah Raven smiled. “No need to take it seriously. It was only a passing comment. Now, I have some leftover soup and bread from the evening. You two can eat some. I need to leave to gather herbs.”

  Taliyah Raven exited the building, leaving Rillian Adore and Drakkel alone.

  Looking around more, they saw that the place had a couple of rooms. One was a space overflowing with bookcases, scrolls and books, and two were rooms with bedding set on the floor. Outside, in the back of the building, was a kitchen and a place where Taliyah Raven kept her herbs.

  After Rillian Adore and Drakkel ate some food and helped Taliyah clean and dry her herbs, they settled in for the night.

  Because there was only one set of bedding and it was quite small, also taking up most of the room in the place, Rillian Adore and Drakkel had to squeeze in together for the night.

  Drakkel removed his bamboo hat and set it against the wall with his items. He decided that while with Taliyah, there would be no reason to keep it on.

  As he laid back to back on the small bedding with Rillian Adore, he fully expected him to bring up what he had found out earlier. But even with only the two of them present, he didn't comment.

  With the unexpected silence, thoughts of what Drakkel had learned flipped through his mind instead.

  He had always felt something was odd about his life and upon learning this, everything seemed to click. But the consequences of such a revelation were too great for one person to bear.

  Even if he knew it, he wouldn’t dare reveal the fact.

  Demons were the greatest enemy to the Sword Fighting world. To find out one of their previous top Sword Fighters was not only involved with them but was even one of them… Drakkel was afraid the world would hold him in contempt and worse yet, those close to him.