The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)

Chapter Seven pt 4

Eial was bumbling with questions throughout their walk: What does his home look like? Does he live with family? Will his family like him? What was his daily life like?

But he kept them to himself. The noise of their footsteps crinkling on the grass was suspicious enough and they had to keep as low a profile as they could. It's okay, I'll have all the time in the world once we escape, he thought, imagining learning even the trivial things— his favorite color, his favorite food, if he styles his hair differently at home.

Within a few miles of trouble free travel, they were able to see a barely visible pale yellow glow in the distance— the elven barrier, one created primarily with light magic. Eial took a moment to kneel down, his palms and ear on the ground, absorbing the vibrations surrounding them for their final stretch.

SSSHHHHH! The air suddenly took on a chilled aura as a sharp breeze blew by. Sounds emanating from the vibrations were different from the prior times he checked. Eyes wide open, Eial quickly turned to the demon and whispered, "There are guards around the area getting closer. Keep your wings closed. Come with me." He grabbed the demon's wrist and slowly detoured to the right towards a small town, hoping to use the buildings to hide. The demon tried to tug his arm away, but Eial gripped on.

Foreboding clouds above formed into an even darker cluster as they came towards the shadowed side of a short house. Droplets started to spill from the sky, painting the stone ground with small circles.

FLASH! A sudden lighting made its presence in the sky, illuminating the area— and them.

Eial swiftly spun around and waved a smear of water magic, deflecting an incoming air magic attack. Shoot, he thought as he heard a whistle and more footsteps their way. Oh, shoot shoot. More magic blindly came towards them in the darkness while the two of them ran from building to building, hiding in the shadows. Eial used wipes of water magic to block as many attacks as he could, including blocking the magic pellets that weren't even aimed near them in hopes they could be mistracked.

One glance to his left— the demon conjured a ball of black and purple. With a swipe of his hand, a wide wall of dark magic striked the area, destroying the incoming magic from all directions around them. While the demon took his time looking smug, Eial tugged on his wrist and quietly reminded him, "No hurting."

He saw the demon's eye roll briefly before he turned to face the barrier. In that split moment of attackless relief, another lightning struck ahead of them with just enough light for him to make out the area around the barrier.

One chance.

When the light from the lightning faded them back into darkness...

When a new round of magical arrows and pellets came their way...

They vanished.

And when Eial opened his eyes again, they were at the other side of the elven barrier.

As the demon looked around in visible surprise, confusion, and awe, Eial immediately glanced farther ahead, towards where the next lightning illuminated the area. In a split second, they teleported to that place. This pattern continued for several miles in random directions until he could no longer see the light glow of the barrier, and then even further for safety.

By the time he finally stopped under the branches of a tall tree, the storm clouds were sparse in the area and a glint of moonlight showed through. He dropped down and leaned his back against the tree stump. With a wave of his palm, water from the both of them seeped out into the ground, drying them. "W-we're safe here," he said through heavy breaths and finished with a slow, deep inhale.

The demon sat on his knees in front of the elf and grabbed his small shoulders. "Eial... you did it!" exclaimed the demon in a hushed whisper. "That was— that was... incredible."

Eial looked at the demon, feeling slightly re-energized and slightly embarrassed from the demon's show of appreciation. A soft chuckle escaped his lips and he stared eye to eye with the demon. His demon. Emotions flurried in his chest and he could feel his eyes glisten.

Both of the demon's hands glided onto the elf's cheeks, encompassing them. Their eyes locked and their foreheads touched as their heart raced with excitement. For Eial, it was a new chapter in his life. All the years he'd spent alone seemed to not matter at all in this very moment.

The sparks in the air grew louder, and Eial smiled gleefully as the demon's lips landed on his. A kiss of celebration. Tilting his head, the demon gently allowed their lips to part, moving towards a deeper kiss.

But— Eial's eyebrows creased. A liquid flowed into his mouth and before he could process further, his chin was lifted up, forcing him to swallow. This strange liquid— a little bitter, but mostly floral and sweet...

The sleeping medicine.

Eyes darting back and forth, Eial searched the demon in puzzlement.

"You said two doses knocks you out, huh?" the demon said, his hands remaining where they were.

The elf's heartbeat quickened and his palms grew clammy. Trying to mask his shaky voice, he managed to croak out a "Why?"

"As much as you are entertaining company, I can't have you come with me."

In that instant, Eial's instinctively placed his palms on the ground, trying to form a barrier. However, the demon immediately caught onto the action and shot two orbs of dark magic onto the elf's palms, ceasing any attempt to use magic from them.

"Trying to trap me again, huh?" the demon scoffed.

Eial stomped his feet in panic, causing the soil beneath the demon to shoot up and knock him back.

"Ha! I forgot about your damn earth magic," said the demon, standing up and immediately shooting orbs of dark magic towards the elf's feet.

Eial turned to dodge and heaved himself up, stomping and shooting craters of the ground at his opponent, hoping to create some sort of distraction that'll cause the magic around his hands to go away.

But the demon who was full of energy and presently had no weak points dodged most of them with dark magic and used magic on the offensive, as well.

In the few minutes of their mutual attack, Eial grew weaker and weaker until finally his vision blurred and he fell to the ground, unable to gather the strength to move in his drowsiness. The demon took that moment to patiently walk over and carry him back to the tree trunk.

"No hard feelings, right? This works out for both of us. You even said you wouldn't want someone of my status." The demon's hand combed through the elf's hair as a slicing calm took ahold of him. "As a farewell present, how about I finally introduce myself?" He smirked and stood up with the blue glow of moonlight behind him, towering over and looking down on the elf.

"The first heir to the throne, Drokn, at your presence." Bending forward with his forearm in front, the demon gave a mocking bow. "It really was a pleasure to meet you. But our meeting ends now. Goodnight, Eial."

With the last sliver of his blurry vision, Eial saw the demon bare his bat-like wings in magnificence, fanning them slowly before taking off.

And finally in the dark hours of early morning, a small elf lay alone under the shadow of tree leaves in peaceful slumber, ignorant to the crushing pit in his chest that would have been present in his wake.