~~~
Words traveled from one to another that the queen had fallen unconscious again and had eased back into resting, this time without opening her eyes for many days after. At the same while, a certain demon, who had been laid to rest, had finally cracked his eyes open. Confusion was the first thing that led the demon. The second was pain as he tried to sit up, all his muscles aching for more rest.
"Drokn!" a voice exclaimed. "Or should I say, Prince Drokn? Ha!" The voice belonged to none other than Lahzo, the burly demoness from the outer towns.
Prince Drokn, the title a raw reminder of what had been his task, what he had failed to do, and the oddity of how he was now safe in a bed.
"What happened with the king?" questioned the demon, an expectant look in his amber eyes.
A toothy smile spread across Lahzo's face as she slapped a palm onto the bed Drokn sat on, causing Drokn to jerk slightly in surprise. "What do ya think? Of course we won! We have 'im trapped in the deep dungeon cells. Too bad ya couldn't be here for the fight, but even better, ya saved the demon lands! We coulda done without the surprise change o' plans, though."
At Drokn's sullen look, Lahzo playfully slapped Drokn's back, a new rush of pain coursing through him. "Ah, sorry," she laughed heartily before taking a calmer tone. "Don' worry about it. In the end, everythin' worked out. Ya saved the land from the weird explosions and we defeated the king. All's well that ends well!"
Drokn couldn't make eye contact with Lahzo. Had the rebels not known that the demon charged in head first because of his pride? And that he left halfway irresponsibly? A flood of emotions washed over the demon. Shame at his behavior, cheer at the king's defeat, a resounding disappointment that he had not been there for the biggest moment he had been waiting for. A time, a moment he could not take back.
Suddenly, Drokn darted across the room, searching. "Where's Eial?" he asked, worried. The last he saw of him was when the elf had exhausted himself in front of him. Had the demon even helped back then? In a blur, he vaguely remembered a pale yellow glow that suddenly illuminated the elf's hands. Was that...
"Ah, yeah, that was a sup'prise, too! No one told me yer mate was an elf!"
"Where is he?" Drokn repeated with a glare.
"Guard down, prince! His magic saved the whole territory. We ain't gonna hurt 'im." When Drokn continued to glare in silence, Lahzo continued, "I don't know where he is. Last time I saw 'im, 'e was with the other prince."
"The other prince?"
"Ya know, Prince Tahgaryn. Your brother."
Without a warning or knock, Drokn stormed into the work chamber full of books that Tahgaryn resided in. Not a second to spare, he asked, "What are you doing here? Wait, no, where's Eial?" The demon's upbringing thoroughly trained him to despise elves. Surely, it was the same for the other. If Tahgaryn had laid a single finger on Eial, he would—
"Oh. Brother. It has been a while. How are you?"
Although bonded by blood, the two acted as strangers, yet with the awkwardness of knowing one another's existence. And for Drokn, the existence of the other was shattered with envy. With no voice shared among them, there was equally no trust. "What have you done with Eial?" Drokn grated, his eyes reddening.
"Such hasty accusations. I have done nothing with your bond. We're indebted to both of you for saving the territory. So now that you're awake, mind taking over all these papers and your kingly duties? They're making me find the cause for the explosions and how to prevent them, but I'd rather not be involved, to be honest. I was forced here because you were asleep, but now—"
"Dammit, where the fuck is Eial?"
"Right." Tahgaryn avoided eye contact to the side, licking his lower lip. He shifted in awkwardness, sighing and groaning until: "Don't blame me, alright? I just fulfilled his desire."
"What are you talking about?" Drokn was at the brink of his impatience.
"Eial's not in the demon territory anymore."
"What?" Drokn's eyes widened, a sweat down the back of his neck, his heart heightening its pace deep in a sinking pit. Catching up to the words, his intuition foreshadowing the reality he would think was only a fib.
Looking back warily at the Drokn, Tahgaryn reiterated, "He wanted to leave. He's gone."
Paralyzed, Drokn felt the words crush his chest, a dark emptiness filling throughout. It felt so unreal that surely, this must have been an off dream. Because how could the elf, with all his sweet smiles and gentle touches, leave him without a word?
A fate that started as the demon had abandoned the elf, yet slowly had come to care for the smaller one. Little could he have imagined that one day, fate would be so cruel to have the elf leave him the same.
He was foolish.
Nothing, since meeting the elf, had turned out as the demon had ever imagined.
The same phrases echoed throughout the demon's mind as he stared into nothingness, quiet within the large room of books:
"He wanted to leave."
And,
"He's gone."
~~~
Off where a cool stream shuffled against thick rocks, where bushes of berries thrived. The smell of earth in the air against the mossy trees. A tall elf dressed in pristine white twiddled the stem of a flower against his fingers. Suddenly, a force of air spread from where he stood unfazed, breaking down the nearby trees, crushing the bushes, the birds ruffling their feathers away in panic.
"Eial, huh?" the ethereal being hummed before dropping the flower, crushing it in his next step as he wandered away. A dignified walk contrasting the destruction around him, he disappeared into the distance, heading towards the elven lands.
~~~
E ro elv krevi ko sheh n te 'evi de kain te sin du brawn...
The baby elf cries with tears in his eyes for love he did not know...
YOU ARE READING
The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)
Fantasy[mlm] The lonely Elf had waited many years to meet his bonded mate, but reality was harsher than he would have liked when he finds out his mate is not only a Demon, but the Demon wants nothing to do with him. [Part 1/Book 1 complete. Follow the stor...
