Chapter Three

Mind whirling, a recognizable bizarre sensation of disorientation. One second he was in a room with red painted walls and trimmings of gold, and the next second he was in mid-air in a room with pristine white walls, plummeting downwards.

The first notable thing that caught the demon’s eye was below him— the green eyes that reflected the brightness around, the silver hair that danced with the wind, and the very elf that filled his thoughts for the past several weeks. As he fell, it felt as if time itself slowed down, as if the room was blanketed white with just the two present. His heart rushed and he could feel the warmth of his breath as it exited past his teeth, his tongue. He reached forward in slow motion, ready to land into the other in an embrace.

Although, for the elf, his instinctive reflexes caused him to immediately step to the side. As a result, Drokn’s moving moment had ended in him falling flat against the floor, embracing the smoothness of the blue carpet instead.

After a moment to take in the recognition, Eial blurted, “Drokn?!” Crouching down near the other, the elf sputtered a series of “Oh jeez, oh jeez!”’s and “Are you okay?!”’s.

However, all the elves around did not respond as sympathetically. Immediately, the two were surrounded by guards, Glolieh herself being one of them. Magic weapons and shields of all colors and elements pointed at them from all directions. The researchers in the room had shrieked and gasped and murmured.

“Is that a demon?!”

“How did he come in here?!”

“Was it not from just thin air he came? What sorcery is this?!”

“Did I hear, ‘Drokn’? Isn’t that the name of the demon king?”

“Are we to die?”

“Is this war?”

“Demon!”

“Demon!!”

“DE-”

“SILENCE!!”

The last spoken word within the panic came from the king. So far, the unnoticeable king had been of little words with an ambient calmness. When he yelled, everyone squeezed their lips shut and stared, stunned. Even the guards surrounding the intruder had their eyes quiver, wishing to take a glance at the king.

After clearing his throat, the king, who had stood up with emotion, sat himself back down, calmly patting the wrinkles off his long robe. He then gently gazed at the queen with a kind smile, who smiled back in return.

“Thank you for speaking for me, my love,” the queen said, lightly holding the other’s fingers within her own. “I didn’t want to waste my energy.”

“Anytime, love. The least I can do,” The king responded with softness, as if the outburst a moment ago was from another elf entirely.

Drokn groaned as he sat up, wiping his aching jaw from the impact with a discomforted frown. His eyes first met with Eial’s concerned ones and he lingered there for a moment, as if taking in the reality that was no longer an illusion. Yet, when the king’s voice boomed, the demon’s focus finally faltered and his attention found its way to the shackles bound to Eial’s arms. Instantly, Drokn’s brow creased inward and he flicked his head up, at last observing where he had fallen.

The grandiose room with high ceilings and not a spec of dust in sight. Elves left and right, front and back with guards brandishing their weapons. Two figures in a distinct and elaborately decorated seat several yards away. One could easily guess that this had to be a palace and that the two in front had to be the royals. Which had meant…

“You lied!” Drokn’s eyes bulged and started to turn a red hue as he rose, standing up in confidence, mindless to the threat around him. “You’d told us you didn’t know where Eial was! But you had locked him in!” I knew he wouldn’t have left me on his own, the passing thought relieved the demon some, but anger grew at the elf’s situation. And at the royals who had taken his elf from him.

Much like the rambling elves, the queen had also heard Eial call the unknown demon by the name, Drokn. She looked to Glolieh, who had seemed to notice she was being watched and turned around. As if they had a conversation with their eyes, Glolieh nodded in agreement and the queen’s eyes pressed just slightly more narrow. With more of a chill in her voice than prior, the queen asked, “How did you get in here, King Drokn?”

Teeth bared, Drokn scorned at the queen. “Does it matter? What are you doing with Eial??”

“You broke territorial laws, mind you, again.”

“I wouldn’t have come into the territory if you didn’t keep Eial here!”

Pondering for a moment, the queen’s brow scrunched a miniscule amount. She looked at the smaller elf, examining him before turning back to the demon. “He came on his own volition. Shouldn’t you know?”

Drokn’s temper blared and his glare cut through glass, shattering any dust of trust that could never have been formed. “There’s no way he would have stayed here on his own! Not only did you lock him here, you even lied when we asked where he was!”

Smoothly, the queen’s voice slid on ice. “You can choose to believe us or not. He was here under confidential business and chose to stay on his own. Anyone who should know his whereabouts would have known already with or without our confirmation.”

Unable to listen to more of the queen’s nonsense, Drokn grated his teeth, his dark aura heavy. Nerves bulged on his neck as he drew his hands out to the sides in tense claws, roaring, “You rotten fucking elves!” before engulfing his palms with dense, dark magic of purple and black.

Immediately, the queen stood tall, surrounded by a bright halo. Her eyes shifted in colors of white and light blue, matching the colors of a magic formed circle made of ice behind her as it reflected the light from around. In equal increments around the edges of the circle were icy shard-like daggers perpendicular to the flat of the circle, all facing Drokn’s direction. Her long hair and robes fluttered and the icy circle slowly spun, a very elegant and beautifully threatening display of power.

Eial heart raced and his eyes grew wide in panic. The moment Drokn prepared himself to attack, Eial yelled, “Drokn, stop!” and…

Instantly, the magic on Drokn’s palms dispersed as if a wave of reason splashed onto his fervent blaze. Taking that chance of wavering distraction, the guards around quickly grabbed Drokn’s hands and bound his hands and feet with the same magic nullifying shackles as Eial, all in one swift movement. Coming to his senses, Drokn thrashed around, but being held by the shackles by multiples of guards, his effort were in vain.

“How dare you treat me this way?!” he shouted, his throat scratching at the tips of his volume.

“You’ve trespassed into our territory and have broken our territorial laws,” the queen said with a chilling calmness.

“But I’m a royal!” Drokn emphasized, as if his status could overrule all laws.

However, the queen just glowered further. “You being a royal makes this worse.”

“You kidnapped a royal’s bond! That’s even worse!”

“Since when have demons cared about bonds?”

Drokn’s eye twitched and he spat, “Whether demons care or not, Eial is my bond and an elf! He needs me to live! You dare separate us and kill him?!”

“Are you so sure he needs you?” There was no heart in the queen's words and the room fell into an eerie soundlessness. “Eial is a unique elf, after all. And he seems to be doing just fine without you.”

“How could he be—” Just then, Drokn felt a sweat down his neck and his wordless lips quivered in defiant rage. A frown still sweeping along his brows, his eyes shakily looked at his elf to the side, confirming the elf’s state of being after a long period of distance. Suddenly, dryness parched his throat and an emptiness sunk into the demon’s chest like tar.

For what he saw was the elf, standing up without ailment, avoiding the demon’s gaze.

No more words could form.