Oscar Vilter was an ordinary man. Strangely he was proud of this fact. He was a perfectly regular tiefling man. Tieflings are far descendants of demons, they have horns, tails, and colorful skin in just about any shade. They’re one of the many humanoid races inhabiting the world of Daetis where magic coursed through every particle of the world and demons could just as easily rise to power as gods.

  Oscar stood at about six foot two with deep blue skin and yellow eyes. He was proud of his slightly asymmetrical horns and his faint freckles. He was proud of his two story house and his back garden. He was proud of having a wife and a daughter.

  You could say Oscar Vilter wasn’t always an ordinary man. Before he got married he had grown out hair and got in trouble on purpose. He used to walk around with bruised knuckles and bandaids on his face. That past version of himself never tied his tie and said it was his ‘signature look’ but really was never taught how to tie one. That person needed to be told ‘no’ about a million times or slapped in order to accept being denied.

  Oscar would have told you he was just as ordinary back then. Maybe a little troubled but still perfectly regular.

  You could argue however that by the end of the year 1241 he would never be ordinary again.

  He would agree with you.

  Our story starts in the autumn of 1240.

  Our story starts with a single hesitant knock.

  Such a small yet life changing moment for both of them.

  “Come in!” Oscar yelled out, quickly readjusting his reading glasses and brushing through his dark hair. He was sitting in a small office with two desks one of which was yet to be occupied. His own desk was neat and everything had its perfect place. Two stacks of tests which he was currently working on, A few textbooks of various levels for the classes he taught that day, and of course a notebook with way too many bookmarks that contained neatly managed notes for each of his classes.

  The door opened as he looked up. A short elven woman stepped in heels clacking on the wooden floor, her arms straining under the box of books she was carrying. He was about to stand up to help her out but she confidently walked over to the unoccupied desk and slammed the box on it panting for a few seconds. She looked dizzy, then smiled up at him and waved.

  “They really had to put the offices on the second floor huh?” Her voice was cheery and friendly. Oscar raised a brow observing for a second. Her long dark brown hair was tied in a loose braid that looked like it was about seconds away from falling apart. She wore a brown leather jacket with a short pleated skirt and patterned tights as well as a simple white blouse and a red scarf. Her heels were red too and had small gold clasps around her ankles.

  “I’m sorry but who exactly are you?” He asked taking off his reading glasses and putting them down. She looked confused for a moment then the same cheery smile appeared on her face once again. She moved closer while he stood up. Once again a bit of shock crossed her face as she suddenly became aware of their height difference. He was at least a head taller than her even with her heels on.

  Now that they were closer he could see her pointy ears decorated with golden jewelry. Her eyes were lined out in black contrasting with the light green of her irises. Her face had slight hints of glitter. Her lips were shiny and colored the same red as her scarf and heels.

  “My name is Sylir! I’m new but surely you can tell.” She spoke laughing a bit. He raised an eyebrow and shook her hand with some hesitance.

  “Right…. So why are you here?” He asked, trying not to come off too mean. He just preferred the office to himself.

  “Oh they didn’t tell you?” She exclaimed. “Well that’s awkward.”

  Stating the obvious.

  “It is. Why are you here?” He asked again, hating that she didn’t give him an answer. He was almost done with work. Why couldn’t he just be left alone?

  “I’m taking the desk opposite of you!” She finally blurted out. He glanced over at the table in question. He specifically asked to be allowed to work separately from other teachers. Not that he didn’t like them… he just couldn’t focus with so many people around. And since they desperately needed another magic theory teacher the principals agreed. “Well you don’t look so happy about that…”

  He snapped out of his thoughts. There was no way his face was displaying his discomfort that much!

  “Oh no you misunderstand! I’m just surprised is all!” He quickly spoke up. If she was really going to be here every single day he needed to behave.

  “Great so what’s your name?” Sylir asked, tilting her head to the side.

  “Oh right… I’m Oscar Vilter. I teach magic theory and have for the past year or so.” He said in a polite way. “Do you also teach magic?”

  “Oh gods no. I teach rouges, you know? Sneaky stuff!” The hopeful look disappeared from his face.

  “So you’re a thief.” The sentence left his mouth unintentionally but it was too late by the time he realized what he had said. Oscar was really expecting yelling but instead got a surprisingly cheerful laugh.

  “Oh well I certainly am not anymore!” Sylir said between laughs. “But hey I ain’t denying where I came from” She shrugged.

  “I’m sorry it was impolite to ask.” Oscar said apologetically.

  “Oh please! Don’t sweat it, Vilter it’s fine. Yes I used to be a sort of thief… but that was a while back I assure you.” His shoulders dropped in relief. Sylir seemed more normal than any rogue he’s ever met. That also explains why she didn’t say her last name. Rogues rarely do.

  “Well still… I’ll make it up by helping you unpack.” He walked over to the box of books she had thrown on the desk. There were some educational books for fighting but most of them were not school related books at all. He looked through them finding romance books and biographies of once great adventurers along with many magazines. He looked at her questioning.

  “What? They said I could take anything from the library so I looked around.” She explained with a grin on her face.

  “Well technically you’re right… But I’m pretty sure they mean textbooks.” Oscar said, looking down at the box again.

  “Hey you can’t teach my stuff from a book! You learn to be a rogue through experience. I guess a wizard wouldn’t get that” She looked up teasingly.

  “Actually I’m not a wizard.” He admitted.

  “But don’t you teach it?” She asked, confused.

  “Well I could never manage to do magic. Not even the basics which was disappointing to be entirely honest. But still… learning the theoretical side of it was easy. You can know how to cast spells without ever actually doing it yourself.” He explained for the hundredth time since they hired him.

  “Oh that’s…”

  “Dumb I know”

  “...Brilliant.” She finished staring up at him with wide eyes. “Being magicless and still making a living out of magic? Being able to memorize all those spells and rules and theories while never having experienced them? Honestly I don’t know anyone who could do that.”

  He stared back at her. Was she serious? She seemed serious but that doesn’t mean anything. He suddenly felt nervous putting his hands in his pockets and fidgeting with his ring on one hand.

  “Well I appreciate the compliment. I haven't really had anyone react like this.” He nervously ran a hand through his hair “So I still have some room on the shelves if you want to unpack.” Oscar quickly changed the subject.

  “Sure! Thanks for helping”

  “Anytime.”

  They unpacked all the books. Oscar insisted on organizing them for her although she insisted there was no need. Oscar had never met an elf who was against order and organization, in his experience they were mostly too proud for their own good. Then again he’s only ever met noble elves and Sylir seemed far from that.

  Sylir had never met a tiefling so insistent on keeping everything tidy. Well she hasn’t met many tieflings who weren’t thieves. To her all tieflings were chaotic troublemakers who rarely did anything against stereotypes made up by the other nations. Seeing one in a suit with neatly combed hair and literally no jewelry other than a thin ring on his ring finger was definitely new. As if he was purposefully refusing to condone to the expectations of others.

  She wasn’t exactly happy about the ring either. But of course there was a ring! There always was.

  Whatever it’s a school you probably can’t have workplace hookups here right? Yeah probably. She didn’t feel like getting fired from the first proper job she’s ever had. Heck she even wore her nicest clothes for this.

  “Hey, how old are you?” She asked, breaking the silence before it became too awkward.

  “Just about to hit seventy unfortunately. What about you?” He replied.

  “Proud to say I’m only one hundred and eleven.” Sylir said. “Angel number so something good should happen this year right?”

  “What in the world is an angel number?” Oscar asked, confused again.

  “Oh you don’t know? It’s like this spiritual thing you know? When you see three numbers next to each other and they’re the same, each trio has its own meaning.” She explained eagerly.

  “Huh…. So what does one hundred and eleven mean?” He asked back now feeling curious.

  “It means I should take more risks because it’s gonna be worth it.” Sylir said lazily, slumping down in her chair finally. Her feet hurt from walking in heels all day.

  “And have you?” Oscar questioned.

  “I mean this is a pretty big risk… I’ve never been a teacher.” She shrugged. Her tone suggested she was serious but she didn’t seem really worried.

  “Well just remember what they thaught you, most things they tell you at those teaching courses are actually pretty useful.” Oscar said adjusting a few books. Sylir stayed silent and he turned to look at her. There was a guilty expression on her face. “Wait, you went to one of those right?”

  “I’m not exactly made of money right now Vilter! And besides it’s fine I know how to demonstrate things. I’ll handle it.” Her tone was frustrated, clearly she didn’t want her secret to get out so early.

  “Okay… sure just one tip if I may: You should be nice to the students and everything but just make sure they still respect you. Losing their respect is pretty much the biggest mistake you can make. And none of the students here are kids anymore so they won’t look up to you just because you’re older.” He said, leaning on her desk.

  “Yeah how exactly am I supposed to do that?” She asked burying her face in her hands out of annoyance.

  “Well you can act really cool and be someone they look up to. If they want to be you they won’t be mean to you I guarantee that. Or you can be really strict and demand their respect by punishing anyone who doesn’t give it to you. Honestly that sorta makes them scared and I personally don’t like that but you do you.” He finished giving her a sympathetic smile.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Huh… I guess that makes sense. Thanks.” Sylir said, looking up at him. He gave her a kind smile trying his best at encouraging her while fully preparing for the angry rant that was inevitably going to happen after her first day of teaching. He could tell she was the kind of person to get annoyed a bit too fast. It seemed she could tell way too many things about him too. It felt weird.

  The day was short. It was the beginning of the school year so the days were still messy and schedules were unorganized. Neither of them had any classes and the sun was getting closer to the horizon. The days would soon begin to get shorter and shorter as fall turned into winter.

  She wrapped her scarf around her neck and picked up her messenger bag. She put on her jacket and Oscar opened the door for her, letting her go first. Politeness goes a long way in his opinion.

  “You live close by?” Oscar asked while they walked down the hallway side by side.

  “Yeah I have an apartment not far from here. Inner city and all that.” She said wishing more than anything that she could kick her heels off already.

  “Must be nice. I live farther away. My wife insisted on being away from all the noise. To be honest I agree with her that it's better for the kid too.” Oscar explained. In many ways Leamore was the perfect city to raise a child in.

  It was in the proud nation of Glackoria once belonging strictly to humans but after the great war it became a trading center and a hub for all people from anywhere in the world. All that meant was that the city had just about a hundred options for schools and kindergartens.

  “Oh you have a kid? How old?” At this moment she gave up on her initial thoughts of hitting on him. Don’t test the waters with happily married men who have kids, she learned that the hard way once.

  “She’s five. Sweetest kid ever I swear.” Oscar couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face when talking about his family. He even carried a small drawing Alian made. His own father never did that and honestly a decade ago he couldn’t have imagined ever being like this. But he loved it, everything was just so perfect. His younger self would think he’s gone soft.

  The pair went their separate ways after a while of walking and talking about casual things. Nothing too deep yet but they both had a feeling they’d get along. Sylir felt optimistic about this new job. Finally something on the right side of the law too.

  Oscar just really wanted to get home to make dinner but he was happy that his new colleague wasn’t too bad.

  ??...??

  “Hey I’m home!” He yelled out throwing his keys in a small tray by the door and taking off his shoes. Immediately he could hear the tapping of hurried little footsteps against the floor as his daughter came running up to him. Alian practically jumped him squealing and wrapping her arms around his neck. He placed a hand under her to hold her up and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Nice to see you too bunny! How was your day?”

  “I got a gold star for a drawing!” She cheered while Oscar started walking over to the living room. Alian was his pride and joy. She was simply perfect in his eyes. She had his dark hair but her mother’s curls. She had his eyes but her mother’s face. Her horns were just small dots on her forehead barely poking through her blue skin.

  “Really? Well that's great news. I'm really proud of you bunny.” Her dad replied softly. Alian held up the drawing and Oscar took it, pinning it on the wall along with many other pictures drawn by her. He admired the effort she put into her wobbly lines and bright colors, trying to decipher what the picture was showing.

  “What’s that one?” He asked, crouching down beside her.

  “That’s the princess from last night’s story!” She beamed up at him with an expression of a master artist. “And that’s her magic crown!”

  Oscar ruffled her hair then looked around trying to find Samantia.

  “Hey where's mom huh?”

  “She's in the bathroom.” Alian replied. Oscar placed her down and she ran off to play with her toys that lay on the floor in front of the couch, dolls with bows in their hair, building bricks and teddy bears. Oscar smiled watching his daughter lay down on her stomach and started an imaginary conversation between her favorite doll and a brown teddy bear.

  He walked over to the upstairs bathroom and knocked softly.

  “Yes?” Samantia’s voice asked and he stepped inside. She stood in front of the mirror with about three bags of makeup and other things laid out in front of her. She looked up immediately smiling when she saw him. “Hey you got home early! What's up?”

  “Nothing much. Someone took the other desk in my office.” He replied walking over to her. “She seems nice though so it's fine.”

  “That's great honey.” She replied without paying much attention.

  “So you got a gig again?” He gestured to the products in front of her.

  “Yeah it's kinda out of nowhere but someone else canceled and my manager jumped on it. It's supposed to be easy though, not a very serious place.” She explained. Oscar felt sort of disappointed. Fridays were supposed to be free.

  “Alright well I'll make you something quick to eat before you leave okay? You need help with anything just call.” He hugged her from behind gently kissing her shoulders and twirling a finger through her curly blonde hair. Samantia was smaller than him and had light blue skin, she had beautiful brown eyes and curves that looked perfect in his hands. She melted into his touch pausing for a moment and letting him press kisses all over her neck and shoulders. “I love you…”

  “I love you too honey” Her voice was breathy and kind of tired. Oscar pressed a final kiss on her cheek and pulled away. “No wait, stay!”

  Oscar smiled at her. She always did this and it always resulted in her being late.

  “Sure. What do you need” He waited for the made up excuse which would enable him to stay.

  “Help me with jewelry and my dress while I do my makeup please.” She said gesturing to a bigger box with different little sections of all kinds and colors of jewelry she's collected over the years.

  “Of course,” Oscar replied. He looked over to their bedroom where her dress was hung up. It was deep purple, almost black. The material was silky and shiny. He recognized it because he bought it for her about four years ago for their anniversary. He quickly retrieved it standing in the bathroom doorway while his wife got undressed. He's seen it many times but still his eyes were glued to her. Samantia took the dress and slipped into it turning around again, letting Oscar lace up the back. When he was done he ran his fingers down her waist earning a small giggle.

  He then chose a bunch of jewelry. Her nails were painted white so he chose pearls along with a golden chain belt that had crescent moons on it. He wrapped it around her waist and clipped the pearl necklace on. He handed her the matching earrings which she put on while he collected a few pieces to decorate her oversized horns which curled back onto themselves like a ram’s horns.

  When they were done he walked up behind her and placed his hands softly on her waist.

  “You're so beautiful my love…” he whispered, leaning down to her ear.

  “Yeah you did really well, I love the pearls.” Samantia said, looking at herself in the mirror. She reached up for Oscar's cheek holding it above her shoulder. “We still look good together don't we?”

  “I mean you look stunning as always.” Oscar replied, holding her hand with his own and kissing it. “I wouldn't comment on my own looks though.”

  “Oh stop it! You look just as handsome as you did back in college!” She said playfully laughing. Samantia turned around and grabbed his tie, pulling him down and kissing him. He moved closer pushing her against the sink and he could feel her smiling.

  “You know I have to go soon. We don't really have time” She said, pulling away but still giving him a cheeky smile.

  “Is this gig really that important? We could go out to eat somewhere nice now that you look so pretty.” Oscar whispered, running a hand up the thigh slit of her dress.

  “Oh I would love that but if I want to build a career I need these gigs. People need to know who I am and that won't happen if I spend all my time with my beautiful little family.” She sighed, placing her hands on his chest slightly pushing away. “I'll be back by 11pm though.”

  “Of course…. It's okay I'll make you some food really quickly okay? I don't want you to perform while hungry.” He said pulling his wandering hand away and instead holding Samantia’s hand. “Come on let's show the kid how beautiful her mom is”

  She giggled and let him guide her downstairs where Alian was still playing but has since switched over to brightly colored building blocks. She looked up, her eyes immediately widening upon seeing her mom.

  “Wooooah…. Mom, you look so pretty!” She beamed at them with eyes sparkling. She ran up to Samantia and carefully touched her dress. Samantia knelt down to her.

  “Thank you dear. Now mom’s gonna have to go out tonight so you'll be with dad okay?” She explained. Alian was used to it at this point so she didn't seem too upset but still Samantia felt bad. Sure she's been home all day but Oscar wasn't. There was barely any time that they could all spend together on the weekends.

  Oscar walked to the kitchen quickly making a sandwich and wrapping it up then slicing up an apple placing it in a box. He put all of it in a small bag finishing it up with a few pieces of candy.

  He handed it to Samantia.

  “Here you can eat this on the way there or anything. Just make sure you get some food in before performing. It always goes better when you aren't hungry.” Samantia smiled up at him then pressed a kiss on his cheeks before doing the same to Alian.

  She said goodbye, unlocked the door and left. Oscar looked down at a slightly disappointed Alian.

  “So what should I make for dinner?” At this his daughter seemed to cheer up.

  “I want tomato pasta!” She demanded.

  “Ask nicely” He reminded her.

  “Oh yes… I want tomato pasta! Please!” It still sounded a bit like a demand but it was good enough. She'll get it eventually.

  Alian scrambled onto a stool next to the kitchen island. She watched Oscar make dinner, occasionally interrupting to tell him about her friends and the things that happened in kindergarten. It was her last year there and Oscar wondered how she'd do in school. He barely remembered what it was like to go to school for the first time but he had a feeling Alian would be less nervous than he was.

  She seemingly inherited her mother's cheery extroverted nature which he was happy about. Seemingly she also inherited her attitude but that wouldn't really be a problem until she grew up.

  She was perfect in every way imaginable, at least to him. Oscar had a feeling most parents felt like that but still. His daughter was way better than any other kid out there.

  They had their food then Oscar let Alian have a cookie, telling her to not say anything to her mom. Samantia believed she should only get cookies as a reward which made sense sure, but Oscar could tell she was still a little down so he ignored that rule. She also showed him the drawing she made that earned her a gold star. Oscar put it on the wall along with many others she's made. It wasn't actually that bad compared to a five year old.

  Then he gave her a bath, cleaned up the water splashed all over the bathroom after said bath, and brushed her long hair while Alian cleaned her teeth. It was so hard to teach her how to brush her teeth properly but seemingly she got the hang of it now.

  He put her to bed tucking her in along with about a million different plushies. Oscar sat at the edge of the small bed and opened a book of fairy tales that he recently got but they've already made it about halfway through it. He read a story every night, occasionally pausing and showing the beautiful pictures to her.

  This night's story was about vampires. Way too many fairytales were about vampires. In most of them they were the villains. When he was finished Alian looked up at him with sleepy eyes.

  “Dad, are vampires real?” She asked.

  “Of course they are. But they aren't all evil… there's some okay ones.” He explained.

  “How do you know?” The inevitable question came. Oscar smiled.

  “Well I was friends with one.” Friends was a strong word but she didn't need to know that. Her world was still just friendship and sunshine; he couldn't ruin that. It's not like she'd ever actually meet Sylas.

  “Really? You never told me!” She replied.

  “Well you never asked. He's a really nice person, not evil at all.” He continued “I don't know any other vampires though so be careful if you meet one sweetie.”

  She laughed and snuggled up with her plushies.

  “Good night bunny.” he said, pressing a kiss on her forehead as she drifted off to sleep.

  He left the room, shutting the door carefully. He laughed to himself a bit. Back then he never would have expected to be telling his daughter about ‘the nice friendly vampire’ he met. He left out the part of the story where he almost killed said vampire’s ‘best friend’ and then said vampire promptly tried to kill him back.

  Looking back at it now it was completely childish. If he ever saw Darius again he really hoped to apologize. Not that he really deserved forgiveness from Darius but at least it would make him feel better that he got it off his chest. He wondered where he was in life. If their paths would ever cross again. He walked downstairs and sat down on the couch. Oscar wanted to wait until Samantia got home so he took out a book and began reading just waiting for time to pass.

  ??...??

  11pm eventually came around and Samantia was nowhere. He felt worried for her. She often stayed out late but she always kept to the time by which she promised to be back. His fingers nervously drummed on the book cover, he hadn’t read a single word in longer than he would have liked to admit. This wasn’t like her, she wouldn’t just break her word.

  Another hour and Oscar couldn't repress his tiredness anymore. He felt concerned for his wife but there really wasn't anything he could do.

  He went upstairs and fell asleep pretty quickly.

  Oscar had no idea what time it was when he got woken up by the sheets lifting and rustling around next to him. He opened his eyes and saw Samantia. A wave of relief washed over him but the smell of alcohol in her breath hit him like an off note in a perfect melody.

  “Where were you?” He muttered in a tired voice. Samantia flinched.

  “I-I just got caught up. Go back to sleep.” She was clearly either too drunk to explain or didn't want to tell him. He looked up again. She was standing at the side of their bed wearing nothing but a while sleeping robe tied around her waist with a lace ribbon. She looked too beautiful to argue with.

  Oscar held out his hand and as soon as she took it he pulled her down. She squealed and fell on the bed next to him. He pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her and pressing their bodies together.

  “I missed you.” He muttered.

  “Yeah… I missed you too” Samantia mumbled drunkenly. This wasn't the first time she came home drunk after a gig but a part of him wondered what kind of gig really required her to drink this much.

  He waited for her to fall asleep before allowing himself to rest again. At least she was home and safe. His biggest worry was that she would get into trouble while being out. He never would have forgave himself if she got hurt or something even worse happened to her.

  He wanted her to be completely safe and knew she could only be perfectly safe in his arms.