To look into the soul of one of the few, truly twisted daemons of the old realm, was to look into the yawning abyss of hell and damnation. A daemon was rather different to a demon. A demon was a being from Hell, born of fire, pain and suffering. A daemon was born from the very essence of the Void, a place of pure evil and darkness. The Void was the space, if it could be called that, between dimensions, where the darkest of human emotions came to life, spawning such monstrosities known as daemons. Daemons often hunted in the various dimensions of the universe, flitting between the stars and taking what they wanted before leaving. A rare few of the creatures stayed in one place for a length of time, and only then they did so for a special purpose.<br/><br/>Vernos Kharo, a being known by many names, was one of those daemons. He had been on this planet for the last two hundred years of his life, finding it quite contenting and entertaining. His current place of residence was the Dark Woods Circus, where his position of Master had been obtained in a random meeting with the Ring Master, a woman who carried a portion of the void with her. She felt like kin to the malicious creature, for he was the Void made manifest. They had talked in private for a little while on the subject of the ever shifting go-between dimension, on their stories and futures. Aside from greetings, meetings and such, Vernos had very little to do with her. She did her business with the circus, while he went about his business with a ruthless brutality that made sure many of the human slaves, and some of the performers who irritated him, din't survive very long. Some torn apart by vicious claws, others disappeared mysteriously, their rooms or cages left empty. None questioned where they had gone, for they knew the answer, and asking would only bring wrath upon themselves.<br/><br/>He was a figure of dread, torment and suffering to the eyes of the male performers. Those who lasted the longest had only a sliver of his respect, but they would do well to keep him appeased. There was always a supply of human slaves, mutated freaks and creatures to take into the Circus. Females however, seemed to be treated different, they seemed to be more exempt from his brutality, although if one stepped out of line and insulted him, Vernos would bring punishment upon them. His punishment, to both male and female, varied. It varied from slight torture, ranging from sexual to just painful, also extending to things like rape, bondage and various other acts which he thought up. If the Master didn't like them, he sometimes just killed them.<br/><br/>Sitting on a throne of polished bone in a reasonably large chamber, atop one of the highest rooms in the Circus, Vernos Kharo listened to the voice of one of his slaves. A young man by the name of Jason. He had the rare ability to see through what ever he wished, to a good distance too. The daemon had been the one who detected the magical human, and had fetched him back to the Circus. He felt that the slave could one day perform, with either himself or another of his performers. The ability of Aethersight was a rare ability, one that he could not waste like the other humans. Jason sat in the cell in the clothes he had been found in, a pair of tattered jeans and a torn, black t-shirt. He felt resentment at the beast which had taken him, but knew living in the city would have probably seen him dead in the next few weeks. Now he was trying to accept that he was living in a world full of...<i>Performers</i>, they called them, a world full of mythical beasts and creatures. The world of the Dark Woods Circus.<br/><br/>"Tell me, what are they doing?" Vernos' deep, lethal voice echoed from the back of the room, talking to Jason who was staring intently at the floor. "They, seem to be talking, Master Kharo. Your performer removed his jacket, but nothing appears to be happening, my lord." The slave replied quickly, looking back towards the daemon. "Do not look at me, look at them!" He snapped, and the human's head snapped back to the floor, as if hit with his master's hate fuelled words.<br/><br/>There were few rules in the Dark Circus and spying was thankfully not one of them.