Expectations. For a while I thought they kept me around since I could cook with damn near anything I could find, scout for danger since I knew the woods so well, and even mend some of the wounds that magic alone wouldn't heal. I could even still hold my own against some of the more dangerous monsters even if I could barely help while they took care of the more powerful demons bearing down on us. But now I know what was expected of me.

When we came banging on the demon lord's throne room door I finally knew what was expected of me. A sacrifice had to be made to access the demon lord's throne. As the weakest member of the party I was expected to make that sacrifice. They cried and talked but i felt empty as their words rolled over my back. Our leader Jacob tried to rationalize as he tended to do when backed into a corner. He was a good tactician and led best from the front but now he tried to balance his sense of duty and his loyalty to me. Our Wizard Bella just couldn't stop crying and hugging me. And our Cleric Michael stood there silent. He was always rather stoic but even I saw the single tear rolling down his face. They all knew but never told me.

I just thought of my little sister Elana back home. The demons killed our parents in a raid and I was all she had left. I met the party while on a job hunting a particularly dangerous beast near our town. I ran into them when they helped me fight off the beast when they were passing through. They realized I had decent skills as a tracker, hunter, and forager even if I had not been blessed by the gods like them. They promised my sister's safety in one of the church nunneries while I went with them. That was 2 years ago and my sister was doing well, but if we don't put a stop to this now the Fighting will never stop and my sister will keep having to live in fear. My humanity for the sake of her life and happiness. So be it. Sorry Elana your older brother might not be coming home.

I stepped forward before the rest of the party had a chance to say anymore hollow words and placed my hands on the doorway. I felt my life force getting ripped from me. My body grew weaker and weaker but the short time I held my hand there felt so long. And the more I held myself there and saw my end on the horizon I started to pull back just as hard. I didn't want to die. I had to see my sister again. I had to see the demon lord's head on a pike and I had to see that these bastards that I called friends finish the fucking job. And as those thoughts raced through my head I started to feel a change in my form as the seal on the door began to crack.

A pair of curved horns grew from my head as blood started leaking down my face. My body grew taller and my skin started to feel thicker. My back started to itch before red feathered wings tore out of my back between my shoulder blades and spine. All the while my hand was still firmly planted on that door. My vision started to go black as I looked at the seal on the door break as I pushed open the throne room doors unconsciously as my body weight lurched forward. All I saw as I collapsed in the doorway with my vision fading was the demon lord on his throne and the damp red wing that now lay over my body.

I woke to see Michael and Bella looking down on me battered and bruised but alive. I turn my head to see Jacob sitting on the steps of the throne his sword impaled into the demon lord's chest. With the little strength I had left I uttered out the words "you guys did it."

This got Bella crying again and she threw herself on top of me hugging me saying "no, we did it." and "I'm so happy you're alive." and all that nonsense. But Michael and Jacob looked grim. Then I remembered seeing those wings over my back. So I felt around and found them attached to me. I shot upright nearly headbutting Bella and quickly realized my mistake when a sudden wave of nausea slammed into me like a wall. And went right back down as my vision started swimming. Michael put a hand on my chest and told me to rest as what has happened here is unprecedented. The hall got quiet. Until finally I heard Jacob speak up. "We can work with this."

I was nauseous, I thought I was going to die not long ago, I found out my "friends" kept me around as a sacrifice, and now Jacob has a plan. I was happy to be alive a moment ago but the weight of all of these things hit me at once. And I yelled. I never yell. "What plan Jacob? What plan do you have, huh? Tell me. At least this time I would like to know how you plan to use me." The room grew quiet again. That anger quickly turned to sadness. "I can't return home like this. I'm the same type of demon as the generals we fought so many times before. I can't let my sister see me like this." I began to cry. "Please just kill me. That was part of the original plan anyway wasn't it."

Jacob looked down in shame. "I... I can't do that. I couldn't look at your sister knowing that I'd done that. But if this plan..." I stopped him there. " You were okay sending me to my death but not doing the job yourself." He tried to back track "No... I mean... I didn't think there was another option then, but I just... I'm sorry." Jacob looked pathetic. He was frantically trying to rationalize his decisions but couldn't come up with an answer he felt would satisfy himself let alone me. I never saw him like this before. He was always the first to pick us all up when we were down and knew how to save face. This wasn't like him. Finally I said "Tell me this plan of yours."

Jacob looked up to me now crying as well. "I... I'm sorry... I... Alright. With the demon lord dead there will be many upstarts and rouge demons wandering around. We have taken out their leadership and their most powerful demons. And I guess it's lucky for us... Is lucky the right word... Anyway the demon form you inhabit now is the second only to the demon lords themselves. So what if you become the new demon lord. Take power and get them to leave the human realm alone and vice versa."

Funnily enough it wasn't me who spoke up first but Bella who looked at Jacob and just said "Are you daft. We should take him back to the mages guild and fix this." Michael chimed in next. " The mages guild knows some transformation magic but for a corruption such as this the church may hold the answers more than the guild." Jacob pipes back up. "And how do you propose we would even get there our faces may be well known among the populace but the wings and horns would sooner get the guard called on us. Besides he's already a skilled fighter now with much more power than before I believe he can do it." And the argument went on for a little while until I spoke up. "I'll do it." The party looked at me. "Just promise me one thing. Tell Elana that I love her and that her older brother still has a job to do."

They all looked at me and agreed. They collected the head of the former demon lord. Mended the wounds that would delay their travel and finally said their goodbyes. But before they left I told them. "If you had just told me I would have agreed. I'd do anything to make sure my sister was safe." Bella hugged him Michael and Jacob looked on in shame and they left. And there I was in the throne room alone. I sat down on the throne where the demon lord's body once sat and thought to myself the only thing that kept me going this far. Do it for her.