Asya stared at Lief as if the demon popped another head on him.
Then she laughed.
Her voice rang around them like the clear chime of bells. Tears cropped out from the edges of her eyes as she wiped them off with the back of her palm. And her breath cut short from how much she'd been laughing.
"ME? Engaged to YOU?" she asked through quick breaths. "Ahh... that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life. But a good laugh. A good one indeed."
"Can I kill her, Lief?"
"Do that and you'll be the one six-feet underground," Lief stated as he smiled fondly at Asya whose fiery hair looked like a bird's nest and her eyes crinkling from laughter.
Asya straightened up and stretched her neck side by side. "Okay, that's enough. We're getting us nowhere with these. Now spit out the truth. What's this Horn Locking you're talking about?"
Lief did not reply, only a knowing smile on his face. The man was being serious.
Blood turning cold, she asked, "You're not being serious, are you?"
His stare was making her uneasy. Still, she was hoping for the silver lining that might pull her out of this unseen predicament.
"If you don't believe me then shall we ask another fellow demon? Not Sven, of course, since you definitely don't trust him. But someone in the Demon Realm who knows nothing about us. What do you say?"
This Horn Locking's not really anything important to her, but if it turns out to be true, then she's doomed for eternity. She nodded in compliance. If she did as he suggested then it was understood that she would go with them.
Lucky for her she did not have to go around asking for directions just to kill the demon king.
"Good," Lief replied, a full grin gracing his handsome features and Asya just could not tear her eyes away from it. A strange magic. That is what's stopping her from looking away.
She frowned.
"So, you have no problem with me being a rogue and all?"
That was the crucial part in this game she was playing. Rogue demons were the lowest of the food chain in the Demon Realm. She'd heard rumors that they have a certain scent that sets them apart from the rest. Whatever that was, she had nothing to worry about because she's a dragon.
"If all the rogues have beautiful horns like you then all of them are welcome in the Demon Realm. Because if they do, then they have the power and capability to live among us."
Asya arched her brow.
This was new to her. She never thought that the size of someone's horns was this important to the demons.
Dragons were vain when it comes to looks. But the size of their horns was just horns, nothing more and nothing less. There were dragons who had extremely large ones, but they did not even have half of her power.
But in the eyes of the demons, it meant something more.
"The horns, huh." Asya eyed her own. It was just the average size. Average for the dragons. But looking at Sven's four-inches horn, he must be pathetically weak. "No one will try to rip the living daylights out of me if I parade myself in the Demon Realm just because I'm a rogue, right?"
"No one will even think you're one," Lief replied patiently.
"Especially when you're a guest of Lief." Sven added looking smug.
"Fine as long as you..." Asya pointed a finger at Lief, "keep your mouth shut about ah... about what happened earlier and your wish is my command. One wish, and I will fulfil it, nothing more."
Lief smiled.
++++++++++
As the three of them climbed the mountain trails, Sven's face was red with frustration. Asya did not care what was ailing the demon. Though she knew the reason why.
Sven had insisted earlier that they should fly to the Demon Realm since this mountain rarely had any humans living in the forest. Suggesting that they would not be seen by anyone. "Besides, the border's very close," he had said. This way they would arrive faster to their destination.
Asya threw those ideas out of the window without a second thought.
Who the fuck would love to do that if she almost died from a heart attack just by being afloat?
Good thing Lief seemed charmed by her, specifically, her horns. So, instead of flying in the sky, he chose what was best for her convenience.
He was sweet. But if she didn't have horns in the first place, none of these considerations would have been possible. She might as well have been dead. No, these two demons would have been good as dead.
When they had passed the main road, Sven laid the old woman on the side. This way, she would be found easier by other travellers, hopefully, humans.
To her surprise, Lief did not speak at all ever since they started walking. Yes, walking, which was a pain to Sven, but her holy grail.
Since Lief seemed talkative earlier, she expected him to keep on asking her questions while they travelled. None of that happened.
In fact, the man looked icy with his calm, but stoic face and sharp observant eyes as he stared ahead at their trail. A far cry from how he was two hours ago.
As she pondered about this, she failed to notice that Lief had stopped walking at the front, causing her to hit her forehead right onto his broad and hard back. Twitching her nose, she glanced at Lief. He was silent as he stared carefully at a distance.
Asya knew that face.
Caution.
She warily stepped back. This way, she would have more space around her for countermeasures if a sudden fight would break out. Looking around, she noticed there were no birds singing. Even the insects were quiet, almost absent. Something was not right.
Asya sniffed the air.
A pungent and rotten smell pervaded her nostrils, and she scrunched her nose up from the awful scent. It was the same smell of those that guarded the city they left behind.
Magicians.
What were they doing around here? They were even hiding within the space, making them invisible but not impossible to detect. Were they waiting for them? An ambush? Really?
Do they even know who they're ambushing?
Well, she understood why they would have the guts to do this. The only explanation to this was, they didn't know who she was. It would seem that her reputation had not reached the ears of these reckless magicians.
"Have the Magician of Saram become terribly weak they don't even have the strength to face their foe head on?" Lief stated, startling Asya. "My, what an unfortunate lot."
Before she could process his words, the space two meters up the trail morphed and spat out a person in a stark white cloak with golden threads woven at the edges, holding a bronze scepter.
"Demon King," the old wizen voice called out.
Demon King? Who? Asya looked around them, trying to find the person the old magician was talking to. If the demon king was here that would be a great shock to her, but a lucky convenience too.
Good thing she hid from the three gods of Darkness because it would seem like her luck was working right again.
"Surrender your heart and your realm will be spared from complete annihilation," the old magician said as he raised a palm and suddenly closed it as if he was crushing something. "The time has come for the Seven Realms to be cleansed for the coming of the New Era. Behold, the prophecy from thousands of years ago is finally stirring with your heart as the catalyst."
Asya frowned.
Whatever bullshit the magician said in such a stupidly grand way was lost on her. But the demon king's heart he mentioned did not go unnoticed.
She had a rival.
"Who the hell is he talking to?" she asked Sven who was standing behind her, looking murderous, not because of her but the magician. Before he could reply, the old magician spoke again as he raised his scepter and runes appeared around him. He was preparing for a spell.
"I warn you again, Demon King Lief of Valkyri Clan, surrender your heart properly and you will avoid utter humiliation from being defeated by the power of Saram Magicians!"
Did she hear that right? Yes, she did. The old magician said the name Lief. There was only one Lief here.
And he was just a foot away from her
She grinned.
Luck was working right for once.