My Journey with the Demon King

9 - Ut In Nuptias Sit Plenum

A blur of movement and I ran into his chest. I didn't even pause. I wrapped my arms around him. "Zane," I sighed in relief.

He was shaking, his voice harsh. "Ana...Ana, you can't do something that stupid again. No walking though fires, alright? Also, I told you before. You just refused to listen or believe me." His voice grew softer, his arms hugging me to him. "I'm glad you finally realized it in your own mind though. I was getting really worried."

"How? How not dead? I saw...head, gone." I pressed my ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"I can't die. At all. I always heal, from any wounds I receive. I should have died countless times already, over the many years."

I frowned. Demon-kind were much more long-lived than humans. They were also all very skilled with magic. Or, at least that was what I had been taught in school as a young child. I had never heard of a immortal demon though. Then again...He was the Demon King. Perhaps he had earned that title because he was immortal?

I tightened my arms around him. "Why?" That one word was filled with all the anguish I had felt, seeing him die. Why would he let me think he had died? What would even be the point?

"I told you," his voice grew very soft. "I grew tired of the games you were playing. I needed to see how you really felt, and if need be, force you to face it as well. I don't have the patience for the games people like to play with one another."

I grew still.

"Besides...Perhaps your feelings were only there because you were traveling with me, because I helped you leave your village. Having another 'Knight-in-Shinning-Armor' appear, kill the villain and rescue you...I needed to see if you would prefer to stay with the knight. You had to call my name, Ana. You had to call me back to you."

I let out a cry of pain. I tried to step away, but his arms tightened around me. "No. I know you are upset with me and I apologize. But I have been waiting for nearly two months to hold you again. Be angry all you want...just stay in my arms while you are."

I started to push him away, to force him away. But I stopped. I didn't actually want to do that. I wanted to keep holding him as well. I was scared if I stopped, I would discover this was all a dream and he had really died. Instead, I slammed my fists against his chest, over and over, while angry tears ran down my face.

I could understand, at least a little, why he had done it. I really had been an awful person. Trying to look back, I had been sweet and loving one minute before changing to an angry, cold mess the next. I had been incredibly confused with myself, so I could only imagine how confused it had left him.

Still though...Seeing him die...Realizing there was no world without him...It had been too much. I had broken under the pressure of it, the heavy realization that the man I loved was no more. I was still a little broken. It would take me some time to get back to the way I once way.

And I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to forgive him for what he had done. Especially since, had I not realized I needed to say his name, had not killed the Man...I would have just stayed broken, dead inside, forever thinking him gone. Of course, I hadn't known saying his name would summon him. I had just known that, in order to save myself, I needed to say his name and begin moving on.

The Man!

I had killed another person. My breath sucked in sharply. My hands that had been hitting him curled into fists, gripping his tunic tight. I took in several fast, panicked breaths. Fighting to calm down, the memory of the crime came back. I had killed the man who had killed Zane. Slowly, after many long minutes, my hands relaxed and my breathing evened out.