Azinhael was not a demon that feared a great many things, yet he found himself quite afraid as he was lead through the forest of dead trees that ringed the demon kingdom where he had grown up. Never before had he been this far from home. Out here, there were no palace walls to protect from the scalding blasts of heat and the world seemed to go on forever. It was eerily quiet, as if the forest was waiting for something, yet he had the most curios sensation that he was being watched. A horrible feeling, truthfully.
To make things worse, he was not accompanied by the large well-armed retinue that one usually took to the edges of the demon kingdom. Instead of a score of warriors and a small team of servants carrying comforts like food and drink, Azinhael had a single traveling companion; a page with barely any muscle at all. Like some especially bad dream made real, the page was leading him along by a rope attached to shackles binding his hands, and a collar encircled his throat.
Every movement shifted the ring of metal around his neck, reminding him that his powers were severely restricted. Ordinarily, a demon of Azinhael’s skill and age would be able to command fire or earth to shear the rope in two, or knock the page away, with barely a thought. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t find the concentration to do it. Each time he tried, his mind would become hazy and the collar would tighten about his throat, cutting the thoughts short and ruining his concentration.
With every breath filling his lungs with scorching, acrid air and each step further from home, Azinhael felt his dread mounting. He couldn’t really be all the way out here, could he? He was the prince of a great demon house; he should be at home, comfortable and enjoying a good meal or a rough brawl, not roughing it like some petty criminal.
‘Take him to the northern edge of the wood. Leave him there to rot. If anyone asks, he was going to the lava pits to impress one of his suitors.’ The words kept floating around his head, but he still couldn’t believe them. His sister, Kuvai, had always been greedy, but this?
As nervous as he was, Azinhael got the feeling that his companion was just as anxious. Perhaps he had some moral qualms.
“Can’t we talk about this?”
The page pulled up short and silenced the prince a raised hand. He looked about as if expecting Kuvai herself to come stepping out of the shadows, but Azinhael knew better.
“This forest hasn’t felt the touch of magic in many years, kada. No one’s listening.”
He seemed reassured, but it was another few minutes before he dared speak. “I talked with one of the senior pages before leaving. You can’t stay here but instead of… I really don’t want to kill you, and if you’d rather live, I could send you to the human world. The trip’s supposedly painful, and I don’t know if you’d be able to return, but sending you there is doable.”
Azinhael’s stomach dropped to somewhere in the region of his knees. Go to the human world? No high-blooded demon had ever done such a thing, and even only the truly desperate made the journey. It was an alien world, completely unlike the demon world and yet… He was desperate, wasn’t he? It was either die here, in the dead forest where no one would find his remains, or try to make a life in the human world.
He laughed, trying to calm his nerves, but it came out as a croak.
“Well… I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” He paused, steadying himself. “I will return. I can’t let Kuvai live for what she’s done.”
The page gave a meek nod and offered a rather brave smile. The likelihood of Azinhael returning was slim to none. “Just… According to everything Eidos knows it’s REALLY painful. And please, be careful over there.”