The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)

Chapter Twelve pt 2

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The next morning, Drokn creaked his eyes open, stretching and yawning until he noticed the room, now lit with sunlight, was completely empty. Outside, there was only silence, as well, and suddenly he felt a small sense of panic. Not that he hadn't woken up alone before, but this time, there was something that felt wrong.

Instinctively, he jumped out of the underground hut and swerved his head side to side, searching for the elf. He walked— made sure not to run or show any of his inner turmoil— and looked around the cabin. Finally making his way to the front door, he bit his lip and clenched his long nails, creasing them into his palms. After thinking of a proper and fitting excuse, he braved himself to knock. Or— was about to until he realized, he's Drokn. He didn't need to ask permission to be anywhere! He could burst into any room as he pleased!

And so, he... very, very quietly pushed the door open, hoping to see what he needed to through the cracks. But luck was not on his side. The movement of the wooden entrance caused the hinges to creak absurdly loud, waking the demoness resting inside. Fuck! Drokn thought and instantly decided to play along and open the rest of the way with full force.

Groggy and uncomfortable with the morning, the demoness rubbed her forehead with a deep frown before glancing up at the demon in front of her. "What are you here this early for? Need something?"

Although Drokn walked in with confidence, he had no idea how to continue. Even the excuse he had thought of blanked from his mind. Side glancing at the table to his left, he noticed the ribbon Eial had given him the day before and headed towards it. He grabbed it and waved it at the demoness before turning around and walking away.

"Did you seriously come in here to grab that?" the demoness asked. Not hearing a response, she thought of something and gauged his reaction with this next question. "Is Eial not with you? Are you looking for him?"

Relief eased her as Drokn hesitated slightly, but the rest of his display was just outright— hilarious.

"Oh? He's gone?" Drokn started, clearing his throat of non-existent phlegm. "Right! He was supposed to... give me something, and he dare wander off? Where is he?"

"Here." A soft voice called from beside the demon. When Drokn looked in that direction, he found a small elf with one hand raised in greeting. "I was supposed to give you something?"

Drokn was trapped in his own lies. How was he to escape this one?

Originally, the demoness, now fully awake, watched them interact with her cheek resting on her palm. Noticing her idiot son was stuck, she decided to pay a little grace. Walking up behind them, she looked over at Eial and asked, "Where were you, Eial?" And then added, "Drokn was worried about you."

"I wasn't—" the demon started to say, but immediately he was slapped in the back of his neck with a piece of parchment and could no longer utter a word. A silencing spell.

Eial looked up at Drokn who looked back with a strange expression. His rosy cheeks lit up as he repeated, "You were worried?" His lips were pursed in sweet bashfulness, but soon— but soon, his eyes dropped and he looked away, a light smile remained, but his eyes lost spark. Switching the subject abruptly, he explained, "I've brought stuff for a morning meal. I'll go prepare it," and flipped himself to walk the other way.

This dismissal had both of the demons in a state of loss, but especially the demoness who had been observing the two mates. Silence filled the air for a moment until finally Drokn flicked at the back of his neck, making the spell sheet fall off and burn away. "You—!" he turned and shouted, furious and embarrassed.

"What? What's wrong with being honest?" she interrupted. She sighed before glancing at Drokn in seriousness. "Drokn... your actions and your words speak different languages. Your dishonesty is going to bite you in the ass some day."

"Who said I was being dishonest?" Drokn grated and walked off, leaving the demoness to silently sigh to herself again.

Who knew where Eial had teleported himself to this time, but he returned with an abundance of fruits and berries as well as fish.

Eial was oddly quieter for the day and he seemed to take more effort to do simple tasks. Occasionally, he would walk near the demon and hold his exposed wrists and caress the skin with his thumbs, seemingly affectionate. When they decided to practice, Eial held the demon's hand and brought him over to a part of their surroundings that had been a bit more barren.

The demoness walked behind them and stared with quiet intensity. She watched as Drokn showed off his powers and told the elf what he was thinking to do next, as if it would be a piece of cake for him to learn. Meanwhile, Eial assisted, throwing discs and darts in the air of various elements, letting the demon target practice with different skills. She had initially been surprised that Eial had revealed all of his powers and wondered in caution if he had been living openly with his powers these past years. If so, who else had heard of them? And how much of a danger was he in...

The colors of the elemental magic lit the air, and she could tell that Eial was suppressing his powers with the weak displays of the targets. Probably for the best, but she thought it wasn't the best to baby the demon if his goal was to improve. With her luck, Drokn himself presented an opportunity.

"Let's spar," the horned demon said with a confident smile, his head turned up slightly in arrogance.

Eial smiled slightly with an, "Okay."

And so, the two of them dueled.

Drokn made the first move, shooting an explosive orb at Eial, to which Eial defended with a wall of air, pushing them both back with the force of the collision. Gaining his footing, Eial shot darts of Earth magic at Drokn. Noticing the incoming attack, Drokn spread his arms to the side and a dome of dark energy surrounded him, crushing the pieces of soil on impact.

Like this, the fight went on, both attacking and defending each other's attacks with precision. To the demoness's surprise, Drokn was keeping up. But it wasn't particularly because he was strong or strategic. Rather, Eial seemed to be holding back. But the sweat on his face told another story. With a worried frown, the mother continued to watch.

Both were huffing, but Eial slightly more. At the next step, Drokn's and Eial's attack both collided again with force, sending them both backwards. However, where Drokn fell to the ground immediately, Eial instinctively used a force of air backwards to break the fall and in the next instant, motioned his hand forward, creating a rush of wind towards the demon. The wind spun and encircled the demon, locking him in place completely.

It was Eial's win.

"Let me out!" roared the demon, his face red and eyes bloodshot.

Kneeling on the ground, sweat wetting the soil underneath, Eial huffed out a breath and shakily lifted his hand. A quick disperse, the wind magic surrounding the demon withered away.

Drokn stumbled on his brief fall and clenched his teeth and fists, gathering his emotions. The elf had an advantage with his special magic. He didn't train before the fight like I did, so he wasn't worn out when we started. He's just used to being and fighting outside around nature. An elemental's favorite.

As excuses after excuses mumbled inside the demon's head, the mother slowly made her way over to the panting elf. "Were you... giving it your full power?"

Drokn's eyes shot up and glared at the two.

When Eial gently nodded, the demoness squeezed her lips together in thought before looking back, carefully asking, "...Was your magic always this weak?"