Kairon lived not in the main spire, but in a secluded manor nestled into the side of a volcanic ridge surrounded by fire-bloom trees.
There, Raezion met Lady Selyra, Kairon's wife—a graceful succubus noblewoman of refined beauty, violet hair that shimmered like dusk silk, and a soothing voice layered with subtle enchantment.
Unlike most succubi, she was a mage-scholar, deeply fascinated with ancient bloodlines, spirit channels, and draconic lore.
> "You must be Raezion," she greeted him gently as he arrived one evening with Kairon. "Draemax has already circled the roof twice. She's quite protective of you, you know."
Raezion bowed awkwardly. "She's… my friend."
Selyra smiled warmly. "She's your familiar. And perhaps more."
Then came the children.
Six of them.
Each unique, each powerful in their own way.
Tharyn (age 14): Stoic, responsible, eldest son. A prodigy in battlefield tactics and demonic arrays.
Kymera (age 13): Quiet but sharp-tongued, with crimson eyes that could see soul flaws.
Vael (age 11): A cheerful, excitable shapeshifter with a mischievous streak.
Iliya (age 10): Calm, composed, a mage specializing in blood-seals and emotion dampening.
Nerith & Saela (twins, age 7): Complete opposites. One serious and bookish. The other loud and sword-happy.
At first, Raezion was unsure how to act around them. He had grown up with protocols, silence, and cold observation.
But Kairon's family was different.
They laughed.
They sparred mid-meal.
They debated ancient rune theorems over tea.
And yet, they never treated Raezion as "lesser"—not even once.
By the third week, he found himself staying late after training. Eating with the family. Sparring with Tharyn, being lectured by Kymera, teased by Vael, and quietly sitting beside Iliya during reading hours.
> "This," Kairon told him one night as they meditated atop the ridge, "is what demons fight to protect. We are not monsters because we are born with horns or cursed with hunger. We are monsters if we let the fire inside us burn everything."
Raezion sat quietly.
For the first time, he didn't feel like a prince, a weapon, or a mystery.
He felt… like a child.
A part of something. And something awakening within him ached to protect it.
Draemax sensed it too—often curling beside the youngest twins like a massive black cat, fire-warmed and ever-watchful.
---
Raezion was changing.
Not just his body.
His soul.
But the question that lingered in Vireon's mind was not how Raezion would change.
It was what would happen when Aeon Severance's buried essence finally remembered what it was.