A Curse of Flames & Blood

Chapter 2

Aerilyn

I hastily make my way home, from the market, counting the handful of coppers again. Shit. I look up to the sky, there is still time to hunt and sell fresh meat. I still needed some coppers for the tithe, but the sun was still high in the sky, leaving me with enough time to hunt and sell fresh meat. All I needed was my hunting gear at home. I turn onto my street and frown when I see Roclan standing outside his house in our shared garden. 

"Roclan? What's wrong?" The old man whirls towards me, his icy blue eyes wide, while he points to our house.

"The demons are in there".

I suck in a panicked breath and run towards the front door of our leaning house. I stop short and bend down, taking the dagger out of my boot and lifting it before I finally push the door open. Inside the dusty room, at our small kitchen table, sits Ayla. Sitting across from her is the same blonde demon from the tavern, behind him stand two tall dark haired male demons, but more alarmingly is the red headed she demon behind Ayla, pointing a sword at the back of her neck. 

"You are finally here, little dove". 

I sweep my gaze back to the blonde demon, taking in his appearance. He has two curling blonde yellow ram horns, hidden slightly under his hair. He is wearing fine clothing, that same unknown shiny and surely expensive fabric. He is sitting with this legs crossed and picking at his clawed nails. A blonde yellow tail flicking on the floor, the only sign of his annoyance. 

"Who are you?"

I slowly inch closer to Ayla, my gaze flicking over the room towards each demon, assessing. The female demon's red eyes are pinned to me, a mean smirk on her face. I finally move my gaze down towards Ayla, who is looking at me with terrified blue eyes. I turn my attention back to the demon.

"I'm Simon, glorious advisor to Demon King Balthazar" He holds his hands out parallel to his body at this announcement, like he is expecting me to know who that is. 

Instead I tilt my head slightly, "What are you doing here?"

Simon clicks his tongue before getting up and prowling towards me slowly. His clawed fingers grip my chin and turn my head side to side. His grip is strong and his claws dig into my skin, "I was wondering why such a lovely little dove wasn't entertaining me at the tavern". He smirks when he sees my eyes widening. 

"Oh yes dove, I saw you leaving." I try to pull my face from his grasp, only succeeding in his claws digging deeper and blood running down my chin. Simon smirks as I finally manage to pull my head away. 

Simon brings his blood covered claws to his mouth and licks them, he makes a sound sound of delight at the taste, "You are just who I was looking for, dove". He flashes me a predatory slime before making his way back to his seat, looking at me. 

I move closer to Ayla, hoisting my dagger higher, but stop immediately when Alya makes a small whimper. The she demon behind her lifting the sword higher and pushing it into the skin at the back of her neck. 

Simon clicks his tongue, "Now now, dove, don't try any heroics. I would hate for Deboriah to spill any blood on this", he looks down at the dusty kitchen floorboards, "lovely  floor". The she demon looks at me and smiles, flashing a small pair of fangs. Her red eyes glowing with malice. 

"What. Do. You. Want?" I spit towards the demon, my patience wearing thin.

Simon sighs before sitting back, crossing his legs and picking at his clawed nails again. He leans back in his chair a bit, before throwing his arms out and look around the room, "I am here to collect your tithe, dove".

I keep my dagger raised, looking around the room, before moving my other hand to the strings attached to my belt. After untying the pouch, I throw the pouch at the demon's feet. One of the dark haired males behind Simon, lurches forward, growling, "Show some respect, bitch".

I bare my teeth at the demon and lift my dagger higher, bending at the knees slightly, "Fuck off, dickhead".

Simon lifts his hand lazily, signalling the male demon to back down. His predatory smile directed at me, "Feisty, dove, some of my kind might not like that. But I do", an involuntary shiver of disgust run down my spine. At this, Simon's smile broadens. He keeps his green eyes locked on me as his tail grabs hold of the pouch and place it in his outstretched hand.

Simon shakes the pouch slightly, listening to the clicking of copper inside, before his eyes meet mine again. Shit, he knows. Simon inclines his head before looking around the room one last time before standing from his chair. 

As he passes me, he pauses, rubbing his clawed thumb over his lip, licking at the remaining blood on his claw, "We will see each other again, dove". With that, he leaves out the door, taking his hellish entourage with him. 

I listen to a few seconds, before rushing over to Ayla's side. When I touch her, she crumbles, crying and struggling to take a breath. I pull her close, and pat her back, "You are okay Ayla, I am right here, everything is okay". I take my time comforting her, once her breathing starts to even out and her tears dry up, I finally move around her to look at her neck. The cut wasn't very deep, but deep enough to leave a mark. 

I got up and went to her room, gathering some herbs that's been drying on her windowsill, before going back to the kitchen, putting the herbs in a mortar and grinding them down. Adding a bit of water to the dry powder, mixing it into a paste. 

"What happened, Ay?" I use the childhood nickname in hopes to comfort her. I sink down behind her chair and gently start applying the paste to the cut. 

"Shit, that burns", she says weakly.

I click my tongue at her, "Language", but I blow on the herbal paste, hoping to ease the sting.

"I don't know. I was home, busy drying the herbs for the market. Next thing there was a knock at the door, I thought it was Roclan, but then they burst through the door, looking for you."

"Did they say what they wanted?"

Ayla shakes her head, the tips of her curly silver hair brushing her shoulders, "No, they said they wanted to speak to you about something".

I move back to face her, putting the mortar with the paste on the table. Ayla grabs my hand and I sink to my knees in front of her. 

"Do you think they will be back?"

I run my hand over her soft curls, before touching the side of her face. I squeeze her hand and with a sigh, I answer, "Yes, I think they will be back".

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Author's note: I want to apologize to those few that has already read this chapter. I had to rewrite the chapter because I somehow deleted it? I'm not sure how. I was busy deleting pre-written chapters on the mobile app, (which didn't want to delete) and suddenly, I deleted 'chapter 2' instead of 'chapter 7 planning'. I tried to keep the chapter as close to the original, with some minor dialogue changes.