The day I was born it was dusky and cold. Fog filled the valley like a big blanket. In the flickering candle light my story began. I was not welcomed into this world with open arms or a hug from my mother. No, the nurse gasped and my mother shrieked when they got a look at me. Dark navy skin, fully black eyes, the little hair on the top of my head was a dark red. But I doubt it was my skin or hair color that they were focusing on. It was probably the wings, horns and tail that might have freaked them out. The nurse jumped at the sight of me and dropped me onto my mother’s belly in which she rolled out of bed. They stood there staring at me trying to figure out what to do. And how do I know all this? Well the servant who stood in the back of the room got the pleasure of dealing with me. He still checks up on me at times, his name is Rond. My father wanted me dead and left it up to Rond to kill me. But he couldn’t so he did the only thing he could think of at the time. He left me on the doorstop of a known and feared gang of Tieflings.

The gang that took me in is called Vityaz Baator. All I’ve ever known and learned is how to steal, manipulate, charm, pickpocket and most other crimes you can think of. At the age of 3 they put me into a backpack in which I would hide and then pop out at the right moment for me to nick something from someone. Who we stole from had no meaning. At the age of 5 I got to get some action in the bigger crimes, see kids are the perfect size to crawl in ventilations and other small nooks so that’s what I did. I also got to learn early on that sometimes people just don’t come back home after a heist. It was tough at first but I came to terms quite quickly. So also, with the torture. They forced us to watch from a young age so that we would become numb to it. So, we could inflict pain on others without a care in the world. But my stomach would always do summersaults.

The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air on a lovely summer day. I was 15 and me and two other Tieflings of approximately the same age were out for some pickpocketing and casual unsavory behavior in the eyes of the good. We were teasing each other having a great time for once. Living like we did in a small cramped space with a lot of rules and restraints you learned to appreciate every small good thing you could get your hands on. We burst in through the door and down a stone staircase. Well inside we stopped in our tracks and our smiles faded as we saw two elders lead someone into the torture chamber. I couldn’t really see who it was. I took a deep...