Page 1 of Mistress of the Damned

Flipp

Ilived in the city around the gash, a large opening in the middle of the Isle of the Damned. My homeland was an island in the center of the Bay of Blood. It was named after the legend that the bay was colored with the blood of dragons who died not that long ago. I lived close to the land of Pyre, where the dragons lived, but I never worried about them coming to attack because they believed demons slaughtered their kin.

The city was a dirty, dank area that reminded me of stepping in dragon droppings. It wasn’t the type of place that made you want to enjoy the outdoors. I didn’t believe that anyone actually enjoyed living there; we just didn’t have any other choice. We were the poor, desolate, thieves, killers, mob bosses, whores, assassins, and traffickers that lived in those parts. No one wanted to live there, but we weren’t exactly wanted on the other side of the Isle of the Damned. I often found it dark and depressing, but it was home. I had never crossed the Bay of Blood and ventured into the Knotty World. I had no reason to, and I wasn’t sure if I could find a better life out there anyway.

The Knotty World consisted of eight main cities where many species resided. Vampires resided in Syn, Witches in Biryg, Fae in Xerai, Sea Serpents in Wayde, Humans in Sypani, and I lived amongst the monsters in the Demon Isle, even though I wasn’t really a monster. For the most part, everyone stayed within their own species, but there were times when we would attack one another.

As I said, I had about half a cup of monster in me, but not enough to be considered a monster. What monster I had in me was from my great grandfather, who was a full monster. He had slept with a human and watered down his bloodline significantly, until it got to me, and at that point, I was barely a monster. I had lived on the Demon Isle my whole life, ever since my parents dropped me off at a brothel when I was a little girl. A sodding brothel.

Step by step, I walked through an alleyway, storm clouds bursting above me as I stepped into a puddle. Cursing, I shook the water from my leather boots, hoping I didn’t have any holes in the leather. I loved my boots, and all the pockets alongside them that held my wares. I was praying to the Gods that the storm would hold off until I got to where I was going.

I turned the corner, out of the alleyway, and came across the island brothel. It was a centuries-old building, but they kept it in good condition for the customers. My stomach turned every time I saw it. I averted my gaze, hoping that no one from inside would recognize me. I never again wanted to think about my short time at the brothel, and how it had changed my life. No good could come out of thinking about that period in my life. The things that I had seen and done in my young life were enough to give most humans nightmares. Ones that they would never recover from.

I was alone in life, completely alone. Every time that I thought about my parents, a rage, like a fire, started burning inside. Why did they drop me off at a brothel, of all places? I would have done better if I'd been dropped off in a dumpster fire. Did they just not care if I was forced to be a sex worker? The very idea should have been fucking appalling to a parent. But, in the end, they didn’t care at all. I had to scrape my life from that world, and it hadn’t been easy.

I continued walking passed the brothel. I didn’t have time to dwell on my past, my present was troubling enough.

Did I ever imagine that I would one day be working for the local mob boss? Not really. I was skilled enough to make decent coin doing what I did, and I wasn’t about to apologize for it.

My boss was a lot more monster than I was, but he still wasn’t a full breed either. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing him that day, but he had some work for me, and I had nothing better to do. I wanted to make some extra money.

Walking down the street, I was heading to the large warehouse where my boss had his office. I could smell something coming from the plants that ran close to the area, and the only way I could describe the smell was—brown. Gross. I hated that area because I always had a twinge in my throat, where I felt like I was about to gag from the smell.

The gash was where all the monsters emerged from Hell. There was no door, and there wasn’t a way to close it. Monsters just came out of The Gash and moved about the island.

There were two versions of the island, depending on which side of The Gash you lived on. I clearly lived on the dreary, miserable side, but there was another side My side had the only usable bay, and was where trade commerce happened, but it was also filled with criminals, low lives, and thieves.

The “nice” side of the island was where the House of Lace was located, not the side that I was on. It was a unique location where all the pure-bred humans lived. By living, I meant they were kept, bred, and sold. The nice side was somewhere I didn’t venture to frequently.

I walked through the slums, one of the worst parts of the area. I put my hand up and waved at a guy that spun candy at a vendor booth. He had tantalizing sweets that tasted better than sex.

“Flipp!”

I turned to see Jakob, a local John that I knew better than I should, and I just managed a wave back to him. I had places to go, and I couldn’t sit around and chat. I knew pretty much every business owner at the bay because I frequented there often. Sometimes I needed to ask a favor from them from time to time, especially if my boss was looking for something special.

I often traded with the merchants, but my trades were always a little shady. I could offer a simple can of beans for a dirty little secret, or a loaf of bread for a rumor, or specific information about a person that I needed for a job. There was always something that I could give someone, if I needed certain information.

“Flipp, come here!”

I sighed as I turned to Jakob again. I wasn’t in the mood, but he looked frantic and waved me over. I nodded as I made my way over to him. His eyes darted around as I approached him, putting my nerves on edge.

“What’s up? I have somewhere to be.”

“I thought you might want to know that I saw some Sirens bring in a large cloud of what looks like Witch’s spells.”

I gasped. Witch’s spells were forbidden on the island, because most of the spells were created to kill monsters. If a bunch of spells came in, that was bad news for everyone on the island. So who was buying Witch’s spells, and why were they on the island?

As bad as it sounded, I knew that my boss would be very interested in the information. He would love to get his scaly little mitts on them. I needed to track down the Sirens and find out for myself exactly where I could find these Witch’s spells.

“Where do I find them, Jakob?”

Jakob pointed further down the docks. I turned to see where he was pointing, and saw a large Siren ship docked. They were bringing supplies off the boat, and I made my way over.

As I approached the ship, I saw a Siren with his shirt off, not surprisingly. His skin was pockmarked with emerald green scales that had a shimmer to them. He walked on the platform with his shoulders back, and I could see he had a full tail, something not all Sirens were lucky enough to have. I took a moment to admire him while he looked in the other direction. He had scales in various areas on his chest that were intermingled with tattoos. They were tattoos of the sea, almost like legends of the sea world. I had always been interested in tattoos that told a story. There was also a legend that Sirens used their tattoos to spy on others. So the tattoos were almost like a living organism that could be used as a method of spying on the enemy. It was very cool and also very creepy.

I walked up to the boat, and he turned as I approached, just staring at me. He had eyes that were so light blue they were almost grey, and they pierced right through me. He didn’t say a word; he just stared at me until I started wondering if I should just walk away.

Despite my feelings of unease, I stayed put.

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