The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Two pt 4

Wind flew against Drokn's face as he squinted his eyes, protecting them from the debris that sifted together. Immediately, Drokn sprinted towards the disturbance, a grave feeling prickling his skin, a busyness drilling every nerve. Behind him, the demoness awoke from the commotion, instantly alert. Adrenaline coursing through her, she teetered her way forward against the stiffness and refusal from her body to move.

At the scene of the event sat the familiar elf, knees scraping against the stiff ground, fingers clawing through his hair and scalp. His head hung low and there was a different air about him, both figuratively and literally. A sort of aura surrounded him, dense, thick, invisible if not for the distortion it caused in view.

A step from Drokn, the shifting grass sprung Eial's face up, thin eyes terrified as they made contact with the demon's amber.

Except, perhaps now, the familiar elf did not look so familiar.

Face uneven with thick, bulging veins. Teeth grown in size, stretching out his mouth and filling half his face. Fangs grew long, clutching against the other bones. He looked almost unrecognizable.

And the elf could tell. Although he could not see himself, he could feel the distortion. He could see how the demon's eyes sprang wider at the look of him. The thought fazed the elf further, heart pounding against his ears, and the dense aura around him grew even thicker, pushing out the air around him. Soon, there were no thoughts yet all thoughts, his mind running with a million ants.

When Vrona reached the two, she sensed a familiarity in the situation, in the elf. The same teeth bared, the strong aura around him. She had seen this before, a long time ago. Once a sweet memory, now blood torn. Quickly, she turned to Drokn, instructing him firmly. "Find a way to ground him."

"Huh?" Drokn turned, too alarmed at the scene, he barely registered another voice.

"He's overwhelmed with magic right now. We need to get his mind to focus."

What was Drokn to do? He eyed Eial, the small, pitiable figure bursting with unhinged energy. The rough features now on his usual soft face. A burst of emotion washed through the demon and his eyes darkened just slightly as his breath hitched. Walking closer to the elf, a slow step after step, he crouched down a few feet away from the elf, leveling himself to meet his eyes. Speaking from the impulsiveness in his heart, he:

"You look hot like this."

Vrona stumbled, almost falling to the ground. Flabbergasted, she looked to Drokn with twitching eyes and an open mouth. "I said to ground him, not flirt with him!" But just as she spoke, she noticed that sparks around the elf calm, the dense energy around him lightening.

Eial turned to Drokn, revealing his face. Red as a tomato, his cheeks burned and his eyebrows turned upward in the middle. His green eyes darted from one of the demon's dark amber eyes to the other.

As the strong energy around the elf receded, Drokn slowly made his way closer to the elf until he was able to be right in front of him, touch him. Wearing a victorious smirk, he leaned over and licked the elf's bared teeth, slightly grazing the wetness on his lips. "I can kiss you all day like this," he purred, his voice deep, echoing on the elf's skin.

Liquid glazed over Eial's green eyes as his skin somehow managed to flush even brighter. The veins on his forehead calmed and his teeth slowly shrank back in size. Once overwhelmed with magic, he was now overwhelmed with emotions. With a yelp, he jerked back, landing on his bottom. Then, he looked to his surroundings, noticing the broken trees, the soft grass, his mother, and the demon.

Remembering what the demon had just said and done.

Instinctively, Eial exploded with a show of magic, throwing out water, fire, air in streams, lifting the dirt in clumps, ridding himself of the excess energy. With one last look at the demon, he waved his hands from the ground and over himself to create a little tomb around him, hiding from view and drowning in his embarrassment.

The air settled still, the trees ceased their movement, not a single bird chose to fly. Vrona and Drokn inched closer to the earth dome, relieved.

"Eial," Drokn called from the outside with his palm on the dirt, but he was only met with a muffled defeated whine and nothing else. Chuckling, he sat down with his back against the dome and shifted awkwardly as Vrona came closer. He suddenly wasn't sure how to act around her and just let time pass by silently.

When a short moment had passed and the demoness had stretched out to lay down beside them a couple yards away, Drokn cleared his throat, his curiosity and concern winning over the discomfort. "What the fuck happened?" he asked as the demoness sighed and stretched out to lay down. "You seemed to know what was going on."

"He'd been constantly using his magic for barriers. Chances are he's been unintentionally regulating his magic from accumulating too much that way." Vrona clasped a hand behind her head and tried to relax, twitching a brow at a sharp pain from her thigh. "But recently he hasn't had to make barriers, so he hasn't had opportunities to expend his magic. The magic suppressant from the last fight probably wore off now, so all his extra magic came back up in full force."

As Vrona explained, Drokn leaned back, head against the dirt, imagining how different the elf had looked. All was well at the current moment, but Drokn had felt so lost initially seeing the elf's state, feeling a strong surge of emotion not of his own through his bond. Although, in a beautiful way, he knew the elf was still safe, that he wouldn't be hurt in the process of coming closer. There was a confidence he felt as a result of the bond, understanding from the bond. Is this how a bond feels to demons?

A half an hour had gone by and the elf remained in his cocoon. Drokn had called for eial a few times, but received no answer. Only after the sixth time, Drokn could hear slow, deep breaths and soft hums from exhales as he plastered his ear tight against the dirt dome.

To give ease of comfort during the elf's rest, Drokn and Vrona had decided to find a way to break open the tomb. Vrona quickly concluded the dirt dome no longer had magic running through. The structure held on its own without Eial's help. Therefore, the demoness decided to just hammer a knife into the cracks and crumble the structure open.

After the pieces and bits had fallen, there lay the lovely elf through an opening, deep in sleep within his own creation. Sunlight beamed through, bringing a glow to his face. Reaching his arms in, Drokn carefully lifted up his elf and eased him out. Carrying the elf on his back, Drokn and Vrona had set out to a different part of the land, away from the fallen trees where attention would bring.

A short distance away, they found and settled in a well hidden area under the shadows of trees and some large boulders. Resting the elf's head against his left thigh, the demon sat down on grassless dirt and a litter of white and grey pebbles, gazing at the small, peaceful figure. A palm against the gentle cheek, an idle thumb caressed the rosy softness.

Glancing at the demoness who had started to walk away further from the two, Drokn's gaze looked to the side before landing back on the demoness's distancing figure.

"Vrona," he called out, watching as she stopped her steps and looked back. He took a moment to gaze down at the elf, observing his length from face to feet, remembering conversations of the old. "Back then, when you first met Eial again, why were you so concerned that he was small? Is there something wrong with him?"