I Am The Demon Prince

The High Judge stood over the kneeling demon, unrolling a long parchment.

“The pact is binding,” the High Judge said.

Thraxul kept his head bowed, watching the ash fall from the cavern ceiling. “I understand the terms.”

“You take no memory,” a second judge added. “You keep no power. You walk among the mortals until the time expires. Only then will you claim the throne.”

“And if I fail?” Thraxul asked.

“Every mortal emotion you indulge will crack the seal,” the High Judge warned. “Rage, pity, fear. If the seal breaks before your time ends, the gate opens, making your failure absolute.”

“Do it,” Thraxul said.

The High Judge pressed a glowing brand directly into Thraxul’s chest, searing and blistering his skin beneath the metal. Thraxul clenched his jaw, refusing to scream despite the pain driving a spike through his ribs.

As the light from the brand flared, he glanced toward the gallery, where a figure stood in the shadows, entirely out of place at a binding ceremony. The stranger smiled just as the chamber dissolved into blinding white.

Alex Rivera woke on a linoleum floor, staring up at a popcorn ceiling. He pushed himself onto his elbows and rubbed a tender patch of skin over his sternum, where a faint burn marked the spot. He had no idea how he’d gotten it, nor could he remember walking into the room.

The door swung inward, banging against a metal desk as a broad-chested guy squeezed through the frame with a taped cardboard box.

“Watch your toes, new guy coming through,” the stranger announced.

He dropped the box on the nearest bed, then turned around in a faded boxing gym cutoff, his cheekbone bruised.

“You always sleep on the floor?” the guy asked.

Alex pushed himself up, dusting off his jeans. “I was just checking the structural integrity of the tiles.”

The guy laughed, sticking out his hand. “I’m Tyler Brooks. Looks like we’re roommates for the year.”

Alex shook his hand, noting the rough calluses across Tyler’s knuckles. “Alex Rivera.”

“Good to meet you, Alex.” Tyler kicked his empty box toward the wall. “You a freshman too? You look like you just woke up from a ten-year nap.”

“Something like that,” Alex replied.

As Tyler unpacked, Alex found himself analyzing the way the human moved. Tyler dropped things, hummed off-key, then laughed at his own clumsiness. Alex felt detached from the chaos, like a tourist observing a foreign species.

Tyler’s phone buzzed on the desk. He hit the speaker button while tossing a pair of socks into a drawer. “Lila, I told you I’m unpacking.”

“Did you get the good bed?” a younger girl’s voice demanded over the speaker. “Tell me you didn’t let your roommate steal the window side.”

“My roommate was sleeping on the floor when I got here,” Tyler said. “I think the window bed is safe.”

Alex reached for the metal desk lamp to move it out of Tyler’s way. The moment his fingers brushed the metal, the overhead fluorescent tube buzzed and flickered, plunging the room into brief darkness before snapping back on. Alex quickly pulled his hand away, taking a step back.

“Great, day one and the wiring is already shot,” Tyler muttered. He picked up his phone. “I’ll call you back, squirt. Gotta make sure my new roommate doesn’t electrocute himself.”

“Don’t blow up the dorm,” Lila said before hanging up.

Later that afternoon, Alex walked across the quad, studying the brick buildings of Crestwood University. Everything felt unfamiliar, yet he navigated the paths without getting lost. Near the recreation center, he stopped when voices echoed from the side stairs, where three older students had a smaller kid pinned against the brick wall.

“Just empty the backpack, man,” the tallest senior said. “It’s a simple transaction.”

“I don’t have any cash,” the freshman stammered.

“Then we take the laptop,” another senior suggested.

Alex told himself to keep walking because it wasn’t his problem, but a tightening sensation gripped his chest right over the burn mark, forcing him to act. He climbed the steps, stopping behind the tallest guy.

“He said he doesn’t have cash,” Alex said.

The senior spun around, glaring at him. “Who are you?”

“Just a guy taking a walk,” Alex replied. “Let him go.”

“Mind your business, freshman,” the tall guy snapped.

“It is my business now,” Alex said.

“You think you’re a tough guy?” the second senior asked. “You want to take his place?”

“Nobody is taking any places,” Alex stated.

“Watch this,” the tall senior said, shoving Alex in the shoulder.

The moment the senior’s hand made contact, the heat in Alex’s chest spiked, sending a jagged line splitting through the concrete beneath their feet. The crack spider-webbed outward with a sharp, echoing snap that shook the entire staircase, sending dust pluming into the air.

The three seniors stumbled backward, staring at the shattered concrete before turning their attention to Alex. Without another word, they took off running toward the street.

The freshman hugged his backpack to his chest, staring at Alex in disbelief. “How did you do that?”

“It’s an old building,” Alex said. “Must be a sinkhole.”

“The ground just broke open,” the kid argued.

“You should probably go back to your dorm,” Alex advised.

The kid nodded slowly before hurrying away. Alex turned around to find Tyler standing in the gym doorway, a gym bag slung over his shoulder.

“You saw that, right?” Tyler asked.

“Saw what?” Alex countered.

“The pavement.” Tyler walked over, poking the jagged fissure with the toe of his sneaker. “That wasn’t a sinkhole.”

“Maybe a minor earthquake,” Alex suggested.

Tyler studied him for a long moment before shaking his head. “Right. An earthquake that only hit one stairwell. Come on, weirdo. Let’s go get some food.”

They grabbed burgers from the dining hall and settled at a corner table. Tyler chewed on a fry, studying Alex across the plastic table.

“So, you always break concrete when you get mad?” Tyler asked.

“I wasn’t mad,” Alex said.

“Right, you were just calm when the ground exploded,” Tyler countered.

“It was a structural defect,” Alex maintained.

“I’m a boxer, Alex,” Tyler said. “I know what force looks like. That wasn’t a defect.”

“Eat your fries, Tyler.”

“I’m just saying you’re a strange guy. You wake up on the floor, blow out the lights, then crack stairs with your mind. What’s next?”

“Nothing is next,” Alex said. “I just want to get through the semester.”

“Good luck with that,” Tyler laughed. “Something tells me you attract trouble.”

The campus grew quiet as midnight approached, but Alex couldn’t sleep. The burn on his chest throbbed with a dull, rhythmic ache, prompting him to swing his legs over the side of the mattress and grab his jacket.

“Where are you going?” Tyler asked from the other bed.

“Just getting some air,” Alex replied.

“It’s two in the morning,” Tyler pointed out.

“I can’t sleep,” Alex said.

“Don’t blow up any more sidewalks,” Tyler joked before rolling over.

Alex slipped out of the dorm and returned to the gym stairs, drawn to the broken concrete. The cool night air did nothing to ease the tension in his muscles as he stood over the crack, staring into the fissure. The pulse in his chest matched a strange resonance rising from deep underground, like a heartbeat answering his own.

“What am I?” Alex whispered to the empty courtyard.

A faint click of a camera shutter broke the silence.

Alex looked up, scanning the quad until he spotted a girl standing near the edge of the trees. She held a phone in her hands, lowering it slowly as he watched. Her dark hair and focused, intense expression made her stand out from every other student he had seen that day.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” Alex called.

The girl didn’t run or even flinch; she simply stared at him from across the grass. After slipping her phone into her jacket pocket, she took a single step forward.

“I know what happened here,” she said, her voice carrying clearly through the quiet night.

“The concrete settled,” Alex replied.

“No,” she said. “Concrete doesn’t settle like that.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”

The girl ignored his question, locking eyes with him as her lips moved in a deliberate, exaggerated way. She mouthed a single word.

Thraxul.

Alex had never heard the name before in this life, with no memory of it or context for the syllables. Yet the moment he read her lips, the burn on his chest flared like an open flame, catching his breath as his body braced itself for a war he couldn’t remember starting…