#litai

 in the caiosverse, demons are less “intelligent and consciously evil creatures” and more “wandering manifestations of power and hatred seeking physicality.” the first demons were born from the Sundering, when the twin forces of the world shattered against each other for the first time since the planet grew life. translucent half-spirits, their only driving force was the need for a physical form, preferably a powerful one.  luckily for most gryphons, demons are rare and typically go after mages, who are forewarned and usually warded. occasionally, some desperate raging idiot will attempt to summon a demon into their body to give them power. this is a fool’s gambit. demons are difficult to control, and often the pain from their body being warped into a vile mockery of itself will kill the gryphon there on the spot. the silver lining is the demon perishing with the death of its newly-aquired body.  even more occasionally, a gryphon will be successful. litai was a rare case, his anger with tekai fueling him enough to override the pain and impulses to destroy his immediate surroundings long enough to track his ex down. he would have probably been successful in killing him, too, had tekai not been traveling with kophis, who is similar to a demon with a physical form in much the same way that a dragon is similar to a freshly-hatched lizard. same point of origin, dramatically different and more powerful outcome.