Fang sighs as he flops onto the old mattress he’d found on his journey to obtain Gizel. As he rests on his back he stares up on the very damaged barn roof above him. He growls and scratches at the collar again. “Stupid council. Stupid mission. Stupid. Stupid! STUPID!” He curls up in the feedle position, lamenting how he’d ended up here.

☾ ◖⬤◗ ☽

“I’m sorry, let me get this right, you want me to go find the one person I despise more than anything on this Earth and bring her back here so you can use her as some kind of super weapon?” Fang asks, crossing his arms.

“Oh, you make it sound so much worse than it is.” The head of The Council, James, says with a wave of his hand. “And she’s not a superweapon. She’s an insecure girl. We just need her to help protect our borders since or the last protector abandoned their post.” Some of the other council members start to mutter before Belinda, the second in command stands.

“That’s enough.” She says in a powerful voice, her eyes flashing a more vibrant green for only a moment. “Fang.” Her eyes burn into his own. “We know you’ve had... complications with both us and the other residents here in Vailia but can’t you put that aside for just a moment? Think of our future, your future.” Fang growls and looks away from her gaze.

“Fine. But what if I hurt your precious cargo?” He asks in an irritated tone, running his hand over the top of his head and down his ponytail.

“We have a contingency for that,” James says. The demon snaps his fingers and suddenly a collar snaps around Fang’s neck, making him choke for a moment.

“What in the actual fuck is this?!” He growls out, trying to remove the leather collar, but to no avail.

“It’s enchanted,” Belinda says calmly, sitting back down in her council chair. “It stops you from hurting her. Since we require her alive.” Fang lets out another growl before giving up on the enchanted leather.

“And what? I bring her back and this comes off?” He asks, balling his hands into fists, digging his nails into his skin in hope of control his boiling anger.

“Not quite,” James says. “All will be answered when you properly accept this journey.”

Fang sighs and looks up at all the council members. “Not like I have a choice, right?” He stands his ground and looks into James’s eyes. “Fine. I accept your quest.”

☾ ◖⬤◗ ☽

Fang growls to himself as he remembers how those council members had looked down at him from their tall council chairs. It made him feel sick.

He bites into the pillow that he was resting on and starts to rip it to shreds. “Stupid girl!” He growls. “Why did she have to grow up and be cute! Why couldn’t she be ugly?!” He presses his face into the remnants of his pillow and screams. Yes, this was going to be much harder than he’d thought.